My last few blogs were about how to put together a manuscript. In this blog, I’m sharing what I learned through my MFA program and my personal experiences about how to find an agent.

Once again, I will break down this part of the publishing process in a list.

1. Look through the acknowledgements page in books in your genre and find the agent that represented that author. The agents you find using this method, will be more likely to accept your manuscript because they have represented and been able to find publishing houses for books that are very similar to yours. They will already know how to market your book. Take all the books you have read in your genre that are good Comp Titles to your manuscript and make a list of the agents acknowledged in those books. Google them to find out their submission requirements and contact information.
2. Look online. There are many websites that list literary agents. They will tell you the name of the agent, their agency, and their genres, etc. Use this information to narrow down a few who fit your needs. Once you’ve short listed a few agents, thoroughly research their query and manuscript submission requirements. I mentioned this in my previous blog, but if you don’t follow their submission instructions, you will most likely get ignored. Here are some websites with literary agent databases:

• Poets & Writers 
• Association of Authors’ Representatives, Inc. 
• Literary Marketplace

3.  Writer's Market. This is a great non-digital resource you can find in libraries or Amazon. The second half of the book lists hundreds of literary agents for you to choose from. 

4.Writers’ Conferences. As the publishing industry continues to evolve in the internet age, the ways of finding an agent have also changed drastically. The last writer’s conference I went to was The Atlanta Writers Conference. All the agents I met there said they found writers to represent at conferences. A couple of agents said they now almost exclusively represent writers they meet in person at a conference. Writers conferences can be an expensive way to meet an agent. Also, they are usually held in big cities so they can be difficult for writers to commute to. The good news is that there are scholarships and grants available for writers to attend these conferences. Although most agents still accept queries through emails, this is a new trend that writers need to prepare for.

5. Social media. Many agents are active on social media now, especially Twitter. Don’t solicit them on Twitter directly or slide into their DMs. That’s rude and creepy. Try starting genuine conversations with them in a way that they can know who you are. You can turn this social media relationship into a real one if you leverage it correctly.

6. Connections. Of course, as with most opportunities in life, the best way to find an agent is by leveraging your connections. If you know published authors, ask them about their agents. If you don’t know any published authors, go to more writing clubs/events/conferences so you can get to know some.

I hope you found this information useful. As always, thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read my blogs and shared your advice and experiences with me. I’m in this writer’s journey with you and I hope to continue learning from you all.

You can also sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing.
Stay tuned for next Wednesday’s blog. Until then…

​
Happy Writing! :)


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Whether you are writing a novel, memoir, or biography, when submitting your manuscript, you must include a one page synopsis of the book.

I submitted a manuscript with a synopsis in March for the first time. Similar to query letters, I am not the most experienced at this. I had the opportunity to show my synopsis to a professional editor who helped me clean it up. However, I’m still working on building my confidence with this process and continuing to learn more about it.

Here are the basic things I learned during the synopsis writing process:

1. Begin with the log line and elevator pitch/hook for your book.
2. Mention what type of book you have written (Memoir/Novel/Biography/etc.) in the beginning.
3. Talk about your characters. Who are the protagonists and antagonists in your book?
4. Go in depth with the book summary. Include the story arch so agents know that your story is going somewhere. 
5. In the summary discuss the setting(s)- locations, time periods, seasons, etc. so the agent gets a clear idea of the environment the story is set in.
6. Include the conclusion of the story- don’t leave the agent hanging. They want to know the entire story before investing in you.

This is the basic format I stick to in my synopsis. As I said earlier, I’m still working on developing this skill. If you have any advice, suggestions, or personal experience about this part of the publishing process, please share with me in the comments! You can also contact me through the website for a one-on-one conversation.

I used several resources from the internet to help figure out this process. One useful resource I found was “How to Create a Synopsis for Comics.” Even though it’s meant for writing comics, it can be applied to any book. It does a good job of breaking down the process and also has a free downloadable synopsis template at the end!

I hope you found this information useful. As always, thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read my blogs and shared your advice and experiences with me. I’m in this writer’s journey with you and I hope to continue learning from you all.

You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing.


Next Wednesday’s blog will be about how to find an agent.

Until then…
​
Happy Writing! :)


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Hi everyone!

As I finish up the editing and revision part of my process, I have had the opportunity to write a query letter for my memoir and get it critiqued by my professors, professional agents and editors.

After going through so many critiques, my query letter has reached a decent place and has been submitted to one agent so far. Unfortunately, I am still not the most confident in this arena and am nervously awaiting the response.

I have learned a lot of things about writing strong query letters and I am sharing those with you all in this blog:

1. Research the agent and agency you are querying to. The better you know them, the stronger your query will be.
2. Learn what books that agent or agency has represented that fit the genre or topic of your book. This will help you list comp titles (comparative titles)  in your letter.
3. Address it to a person. Address the letter to the agent you are querying and not the agency.
4. Make it personal (without getting creepy). Use the research you do on your agent and include it in your query letter. This includes things you admire about them professionally (that are relevant to your book) or works they have represented that would make them a good fit for you. If you met them at a conference or event, mention that in the letter. Again, don’t get creepy or talk about things that aren’t relevant.
5. Elevator pitch. Begin your query letter with your elevator pitch which contains a few lines about your book including the hook. Sometimes this elevator pitch is what will get printed on the back of your book cover so spend some time thinking about it.
6. Comp Titles. After you have the agent hooked, list some of the comp titles you researched. This will help you become more confident about the exact genre/subgenre your book falls in if you aren’t already sure. This will help the agent place your book on a bookstore shelf and know that there is a market out there for it and how they can sell it.
7. In the last part of your query letter, include your relevant credentials. List past published books (if you have them), list your relevant degrees (if you have them), list anything else that shows you are qualified to talk about the subject in your book (especially if it is nonfiction). Also, mention your platform (if you already have one) that will be interested in buying your book.
8. Finally, thank the agent for taking the time to read your query letter.
9. Read good and bad query letters online. The best way to research is to see what other writers have done. This is a great source for bad query letters: SlushPileHell. This is a great source for good query letters: WritersDigest.

I hope you found this list useful. As I said, I’m still in the learning phase when it comes to query letters so please share with me any words of advice or suggestions to add to this list.

If you have any advice or personal experiences to share about the information in this blog, please comment below or contact me personally through the contact form on “contact” page.

As always, thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read my blogs and shared your advice and experiences with me. I’m in this writer’s journey like all of you and I hope to continue learning from you all.

You can also sign up for my newsletter on the bottom of the page for updates on my writing.


Next Wednesday’s blog will be about my process of learning how to write a synopsis.
Until then…
​
Happy Writing! :)


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Hello everyone!

This week, I’m sharing everything I have learned from experience and research about the important things to pay attention to when submitting a manuscript.

1. Following instructions
   Every literary agency/agent has their own specifications. Although they generally need the same things (query letter, proposal/synopsis, manuscript) they have different specifications when it comes to method of delivery and format. For example, many agents don’t want your manuscript attached to their email. They prefer you copy and paste it into the email itself. READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE SUBMITTING A QUERY!
2. Finding an agent
   You can find agents/agencies online and at events like writers conferences.
3. Researching your agent’s requirements.
   Before contacting an agent/agency, make sure you research them. Know what genres they represent, when authors they have represented in the past, and read a book or two in your genre that they have published before. This information will help you know if they are the appropriate agent/agency for you and it will help you write a stronger, more specific query letter.
4. Know your word count
   When querying, most agents will ask you for a word count. They need to know the size of your book. If you use a program like MS Word, it will display word count at the bottom of the page. If you do not have a completed manuscript, you can estimate your word count by how many pages you want you book to be. It is generally calculated at about 250 words per page if you have 12pt. Times New Roman font on an 8.5X11 size page with 1 inch margins. According to Writer’s Digest, a memoir is treated like a fiction novel and is generally between 70,000-100,000 words. 
5. Know your genre
   Know your genre. The more confident you are about your genre the easier it is for the agent to sell your book to a publisher. If you think your book is in between genres then provide the agent with solid examples of existing books in those genres to show them where it belongs in the market.
6. Chapters/index
   Depending on the agent and genre, you might have to submit either chapters or an index with your manuscript. This can be difficult to do when you haven’t finished writing the book but it’s important for you and for you agent to know that you have the book planned out even if it isn’t finished.
7. Font, margins, document formatting.
   For me, formatting is the most tedious part of submitting a manuscript. As I mentioned before, agents/agencies have different requirements as to how they want the manuscript formatted. This includes the font, the size of the font, the size of the page, the size of the margins on the page, the order of the contents in the manuscript, the location of your name on each page, the location of the page number on each page, etc. As tedious and time consuming as this can be, it is extremely important because agents will refuse to read your manuscript if it isn’t formatted to their specifications.

I hope you found the information in this blog helpful. In my next few blogs, I will continue to explore each of these topics and break them down further with more resources and experiences I’ve had.

As always, thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read my blogs and shared your advice and experiences with me. I’m in this writer’s journey like all of you and I hope to continue learning from you all as well.

If you have any advice or personal experiences to share about the information in this blog, please comment below or contact me personally through the contact form on “contact” page.
You can also sign up for my newsletter on the bottom of the page for updates on my writing.


Next Wednesday’s blog will be about my (scary) process of learning how to write a query letter.

Until then…
​
Happy Writing! :)


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As I am working through the editing/revision process of my memoir, I'm learning new ways of improving my process from my personal experience, feedback from my critique group, and suggestions from professional editors. Although I am still figuring out my process as I go, here are some tips that have helped me:

1. Fresh eyes. I mention this in my previous blog, but looking at your work with fresh eyes is extremely important in the editing/revision process because of how tedious this part of the process can be. Make sure you take regular breaks and step away from your computer to keep yourself from getting bogged down in the details. It’s easier to catch mistakes and get new ideas with fresh eyes.
2. Read out loud. I’ve heard this advice from several people, including professional editors. If you are like me, you tend to overwrite at times. I took this advice to heart and began reading my work out loud. It helped me simplify sentence structures and give my writing a more conversational (less formal) tone.
3. Revision first. After I shared my previous blog “Editing and Revision Process” on a Facebook group, one of you mentioned in the comments how important it is to distinguish between the major revision process and the editing process. Always do your major revisions first. It can be a huge waste of time if I start editing and then realize I need to cut out big chunks or add in new chunks to my essay. I always go through and address the essays that need major revisions before I get into line editing.
4. Critique Groups. I’ve mentioned this in previous blogs but having a critique group is priceless! Show your work to people you trust such as critique/writing group members to get new eyes on it. You can find critique groups online. If you live in the Atlanta area, you can find critique groups based on your genre through the Atlanta Writers Club. If you lack access to a group, find a friend or two that you trust who will give you helpful constructive feedback.
5. Beta Readers. As one of you mentioned in the comments of my previous blog, beta readers are very helpful. Gather a few people that are willing to read your work and give you feedback. If you are having a hard time finding people in your network, Facebook writing groups are a good place to put out a call for beta readers.
6. Get a professional editor (if possible). It can be expensive to get a professional freelance editor, however, if you can afford it, it is a worthwhile investment. This way, you will know exactly what to revise or edit before you even pitch your manuscript to an agent. You can go to websites like www.thewritershigh.com to find great freelance editors online.
7. Use feedback wisely. I have had the opportunity to get many eyes on parts of my manuscript. I have received feedback from my professors, critique group members, classmates, a professional editor, and my husband. That’s a lot of feedback! Although these are all people whose opinion I value and whose feedback I trust, this is my memoir. At the end of the day, I need to have the discretion to know what feedback to incorporate and what to ignore. Sometimes people might give you feedback that will take your work in a different (not necessarily bad) direction. It is up to you to decide where you want your final product to go. I talk more about how to make the best of your feedback and develop critiquing skills (giving and receiving critiques) in my blog “Developing Critiquing Skills.”
8. Read about it. When it comes to line editing and improving grammar skills there are many great books out there. One book that was recommended to me by a professional editor was Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. Although the book is for fiction writers, it works well for memoir as well. It includes exercises and funny cartoons that help you improve your editing skills. 

As always, I am humbled and encouraged by all of you who take time to read my blogs and share your advice/experiences with me. You all keep me motivated!


Please continue to share your advice/experiences regarding the revision/editing process with me in the comments.


Next Wednesday’s blog will be about the process of submitting a manuscript.
Until then…
​

Happy Writing! :)


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Writing is the fun part for me because I get to be creative and make something new. However, editing is just as important if not more important in my writing process.
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In this video, I want to share with you the importance of this process and how I have structured my own editing/revision process over time.
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​Thank you for watching and I hope you found this blog useful!


Again, thank you to all of you who have been reading/watching my blogs and sharing your advice and experiences with me. You all keep me motivated to keep posting.
Please share your thoughts on this blog with me in the comments below and feel free to share it with other writers who might find it useful.


In my next blog, I will give you all some editing and revising tips that I have learned from my critique groups, professors, and professional editors.
Until then...
​

Happy Writing! :)


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Art by Loso F. Perez of Prime Vice Studios
Creative Consulting by Dan “DTM” Flores
Edited in iMovie

Memoirs are personal. As a memoir writer, you give readers a glimpse into your private life in the book. Although it is about you, it has to be built around universal themes that others can relate to. The things we experience in life might be unique to us, but our emotions and reactions to those experiences are often universal. When writing a memoir, you have to be aware of the universal themes you are building your story around.

My memoir is a collection of essays that aren’t in chronological order. The way my memoir is structured, it is even more important for me to have strong universal themes tying all of the essays together.

The big question is, how do you sift through your entire eventful life to find (a) common universal theme(s) for your memoir that will engross your readers?

1. Write, write, write. The more essays you write about your life, the more themes you will see emerging from your writing. I realized which themes I was most comfortable with and inclined to write about once I had a few essays under my belt.
2. If you are older or have experienced many things in your life at a young age, it is best to pick one part of your life to build the memoir around. Make your memoir an exploration of your life based around that one significant moment/experience/person/etc. That way you will have a focus for the universal theme(s) of your memoir.
3. Tell your story out loud to others. Talking about the part of your life you want to write about in the memoir will help you figure out what the main themes in your story are based on what peaks your listener’s interest.
4. Don’t start with a rigid theme/structure in mind. It helps to have a general idea of where you want to go with your memoir but don’t be rigid about the direction before you start writing. That will make your process more analytical and less authentic. Let your writing show you the way.
5. A universal theme helps connect your readers to you on a level beyond your specific experiences. For this reason, it is important to be able to see and analyze your life beyond your personal situations. I’ve said this before in multiple blogs but writing a memoir is like going to a therapist. You have to be able to dig deep.

These are a few strategies that have helped me become clearer over time about what the universal themes in my memoir are and how to make sure they are consistent through all parts of the book. I hope you found this useful!

Thank you to those of you who have been taking the time to share your experiences and advice with me on these blogs and on social media. You all keep me motivated to keep writing. 
Please share your experiences with me in the comments below on how you were able to find (a) strong universal theme(s) for your memoir because I am always looking to improve my writing process!

Next week’s blog is about the editing/revising part of my writing process. Until then…
​
Happy Writing! :)


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Although our reasons might be different, we all experience the infamous writer’s block at some point in our writing process. Personally, I have experienced writer’s block for two reasons so far. One, fear, which I talk about in my blog “Dealing with Fear” and, two, losing my strong consistent voice. Several of my fellow writers have discussed this topic with me and have similar reasons as to why they experienced writer’s block.

I want to share with you some strategies that helped me overcome writer’s block.

1. The first way I overcame my writer’s block was to identify the reason for the block. I mention this in several of my blogs but, writing a memoir is like going to therapy: you have to dig deep. For example, I realized that one of the reasons for my writer’s block was the fear of writing about other people and that they might not want me to write about them. Another reason I had writer’s block during my memoir writing process was because I was reading many memoirs by authors who had very different voices and so, when I started to write, I lost my own voice (I talk more about this in my blog “Finding Your Voice Part 2”). A fellow writer and friend of mine also got writer’s block recently because her voice changed and didn’t match the voice she wrote her older essays in. You can’t get over writer’s block until you find the root of the problem so dig deep!
2. Another way I overcame my writer’s block was to change my writing strategy. I used to just type up my essays on the computer. This worked for me for years. However, when it really came time to churn out my memoir, I found myself just staring at a blank Word document, the cursor blinking with anticipation, as my mind went as blank as the page. I realized that my writer’s block was keeping me from typing up essays straight onto the computer. So, I decided to go old school and write by hand. Also, to help me overcome the fears that were the root causes of my writer’s block, I decided to writer in a notebook as if it was my personal journal. I have been writing personal journals since I was nine years old so I feel no fear when writing those by hand. I imagined that the essays for my memoir were just journal entries and began writing them down. The result was remarkable! All of a sudden all my fear disappeared and words just flowed onto the page. I wrote until I felt satisfied that I got all the ideas from my head onto paper. Then, I took what I wrote, typed it up and began editing and expanding it. So far, out of the fourteen essays I’ve written for my memoir, seven began as hand written “journal entries.”
3. Lastly, another way I have been able to overcome writer’s block is to play with different formats and writing exercises and prompts. I realized that I loved writing satire in a letter format so I began using that format for my serious writing as well. I used the format of listicles, recipes, instructions, definitions, etc. to get my creative juices flowing. I also used online resources like writer’s groups or writing websites to find writing exercises and prompts to help get the words flowing out of me. Even if the prompts had nothing to do with the topic of my memoir, they still helped me get over my writer’s block and begin writing creatively again.

These are some of the ways that I have been able to overcome writer’s block in the past. As I continue with my memoir writing process, I’m sure I will experience writer’s block again for different reasons. This is something that we all have to constantly work on as writers. So, please share with me your experiences with writer’s block and how you have dealt with it in the past.

I want to thank those of you who have been reading my blogs and engaging with them. I truly appreciate your feedback, advice, and shared experiences. You all motivate me to keep writing!

Next week’s blog will be about how to find a strong universal theme for your memoir. Until then…

​
Happy Writing! :)


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In this blog, I discuss how I have learned to be bold when it comes to my memoir writing and my brand. 
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I hope you all found this video useful.

I want to thank all of you who have been engaging with my blogs and sharing your experiences with me. You all keep me motivated to keep writing!

Please leave comments below with your experiences and how you gained confidence in your writing and learned to be bold. Also, feel free to share this with other writers who you think will find it helpful.

My next blog will be about the infamous writer's block. Until then...


Happy Writing! :)



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In my last blog, “The Importance of Critique Groups,” I discussed the importance of critique groups and how much they have helped me. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, scroll down and take a look!

Critique groups are important but they can be a waste of time or damaging to your self-esteem/writing if the people in the group don’t know how to provide critique and you don’t know how to receive critique. Here are some skills I had to learn over the years about giving and receiving critique.

1. When giving critique, break it down into “What Works,” “What Needs Work,” and “Overall Summary” of your critique. This way you give equal importance to the things that you like about the piece and the things that you think could be improved.
2. When giving critique, talk to the person by beginning your thoughts with “what I really like about this essay is...but I feel that if you tried …. it would make things more clear/interesting/funny/etc.” This way you are always beginning with something positive and the person being critiqued doesn’t feel like you are attacking them and gets defensive.
3. When giving critique, be as open-minded as possible. When offering your perspective on things, try to see it from the writer’s perspective as well so that they know you are taking the time to understand what they are trying to do. This is especially important for memoir because the topics can be very personal to the writer. Again, do not make them feel like you are attacking their life and their writing.
4. When giving critique be honest. Don’t lie to the person because you feel bad for them or are too scared to hurt their feelings. You will not help them become better writers by lying to them. On the other hand, there are ways to be honest without hurting people’s feelings. Learn them.
5. When giving critique, be honest but don’t be judgement. There is a difference. Keep your personal opinions to yourself unless you are offering them in a positive/constructive way to help them grow as writers. This is especially true for memoir because people are baring all the intimate details of their lives to you. Do not judge them by how they have lived their lives. Judge only their writing and help them improve instead of tearing them down.
6. When receiving critique, remember, this is not a critique of you as a person, it just a critique of your writing. Don’t take everything personally. Your critique group members are trying to help you get better at writing.
7. When receiving critique, don’t be defensive. One of the techniques we practiced on critique days in my classes was that the person being critiqued is not allowed to say anything while they are being critiqued. Once everyone in the group is done offering their critique, they have the chance to clarify and explain themselves. I really liked this technique because it forced me to just shut up and listen to what people are saying instead of getting defensive and thinking about ways to refute what was said. Getting defensive is a waste of time and energy. You don’t have to prove anything to the people in your group. They are not writing your story.
8. When receiving critique, know which critiques to keep and which to let go of. After you have quietly listened to everyone’s critique and taken notes, let the ideas float in your head for a few hours or a day or two before you actually begin revising the essay. When you have had time to mull over things, you might find that some critiques were more helpful than others so you keep some and drop the rest. After all, they are just opinions.
9. When receiving critique, always take notes. I know this sounds obvious but I have seen so many people not take notes during critiques. There is no way you are going to remember everything everyone said. Also, when you write things down, you can go back to them later with a cool head and find inspiration in them.
10. When receiving critique, make sure your critique group is a positive learning environment. It is difficult to find critique groups where you get the perfect balance of constructive criticism and encouragement. Make the effort to find such a group. You don’t want a group where everyone is too nice and afraid of hurting your feelings because that won’t help you become a better writer. However, you don’t want a group where everyone is just tearing you down to make themselves feel better about their writing. Take the time to find a critique group that builds you up as a strong and confident writer.

These are skills I developed over the years after a lot of practice and they have made me a better critique group member and a better writer/editor. I hope you found this information helpful.

Please share your critique group experiences (good and bad) and wisdom with me in the comments. I am always open to learning more critiquing skills!

Also, please share resources where others reading this blog can find good critique groups.
If you live in the Atlanta area, the Atlanta Writers Club has hundreds of critique groups based on genre all around metro-Atlanta so check them out here.


Thank you to all of you who continue to read my blogs every Wednesday and share your wisdom and experiences with me in the comments. I’m glad you find these useful!


Next Wednesday’s blog will be about how to be bold in your memoir writing.


Until then…

​
Happy Writing! :)


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