The Great Agent Quest

Yep. While my novel still needs a little work and I'm waiting to hear back from a test reader or two, I have started something at long last. I have started:


The Great Agent Quest


Also known as, I'm researching agents to find the right one for me. I hope to submit in the near future to at least 5 potential agents and it's all very exciting. After starting this novel back in 2007, I'm finally at a point I can consider what possible agents would work well for this story and in large focus, my career as a writer. Because while this novel is great, it's not the only one and not the only genre or age range that I write in, so I'm dreaming big and looking for agents that match both this one but also future prospects.

It's a happy but nerve-wrecking time. I've never done this before. I have to actually consider what I'm looking for in an agent.

Here are a couple of things I've come up with:
- Genres and age ranges need to include young adult, fantasy, maybe sic-fi but not be just young adult or younger because a chunk of my stories are in adult speculative fiction.
- Must be able to accept GLBT characters. It's one of the few things I won't change about a story.
- Feedback. I know some don't want edit/rewrite tips from agents, but I'm not one of them.

And well, that's actually it so far. Yeah, I don't have very many requirements yet but I'm new to the search. Which brings me to my questions for you.



What do you look for in an agent?
Anything you don't want in one?
Are you searching for an agent?

The Beta Reader

This is a concept I have heard a fair amount over the years as I attempted to get my novels to readable condition. Now that it leers over my head with the edit coming closer to an end, I have to wonder about the beta reader because I would like to have a couple of them.  But how does one find such a reader? hmmm

Here beta, beta. Come here little beta...

(Betta Fish Image Link)

No luck so far. But I will keep trying. ;-)


Kidding aside, I do have some wonderings about the beta reader concept that I'm going to ramble about here for your reading pleasure. Because for some the beta is an important step. The test read with people who can give the writer an outside pov on their book. There are others who don't share their work until they submit, forgoing the beta stage for a jump into the shark tank approach (lovable sharks hopefully). But it's a decision we have to make. To find the test readers or not.


What is a beta reader?
- A beta reader is a reader who before a books release to the public (or sent out to in hopes of interest from publisher or agents) with a critical eye, with the aim of improving grammar, spelling, characterization, and general style.

Okay, there are a couple different types. Some will look at just the overall picture. They will look at the story as a general reader about the overall story and characters. Some of the minor details will be ignore so little comma misses and typos aren't viewed as important to point out. Others (those who have been editors themselves for example) may focus on the minutae and not as much on the overall story. This I notice in particular when looking at single chapters at a time. It's harder to see the overall picture in some cases and the technical notes can be helpful if the novel is ready for that. Some will cover all bases at once, which depending on the amount needed the write has to be ready to handle the information being offered them.

Sounds nice right? Helpful and such. Sure... So once you decide to go with the beta reader, the next question becomes: who?

I don't have that answer. I had a few writing friends that wanted to test read a couple of my novels but that was years ago and now that I'm getting close to having an edit done, those that offered aren't in touch anymore. So, I'm at square one in my search for a couple test readers. I even tried joining this group a blogger had where you could search and email others to maybe find a critique partner/beta reader. Didn't have any luck.

So, now to you. 
Do you have a Beta reader?
Are you skipping the beta step?
What method to you recommend for finding a beta reader?

Money From Blogging Consideration

For a while now, some people have asked me if I have considered trying to make money from blogging. And while I had looked into it a little, I must admit that I never looked too much into the concept because I wasn't sure how. I also have a minor concern about feeling like I'm selling out in a way because the easiest ways to earn a little income is with links and such posted on the blogs to send people to other sites or products. On the other hand, it would be nice to get a few dollars from blogging to help pay for the Internet in order to make the blog posts. I am not looking to make a large income, just a little bit every now and then would be nice.

I'm curious what other people on the blog world think about a couple of options. Here are the questions to consider about them: Does it change how you view the blog you are reading when you see them used? Do you use them and if so what has been your experience?

Adsense - (similar options) This is the advertisements that get placed on the side or different parts of the page. From what I've looked at so far, this is one of the most common options people take. The ads can be geared towards the specific audience but it's still advertisements placed on the page and I know with web sites sometimes those ads can have a negative affect on a viewer.

Amazon Affiliate - This is the link to an item from amazon and you get a small amount of the profit if they decide to buy after following the link. While it wouldn't work for most of my blogs because I don't talk about products and I won't be posting links to items for no reason, it wouldn't be too bad I guess to post a link to a book on the book review blog except I'd rather people buy books from other locations. Amazon has its use but it also has the negative impact on the industry from what has been going on lately in the publishing world.

What do you think?

Z is for zzzz

Almost forgot about the last day post. Actually, I thought I'd done it last night and turned out I only did 1 and I've been posting on both blogs all month. Oops.  Z is a hard topic to find words to use for and relating them to specific topics. There are a number of words that start with Z but need to be able to something about them. So, I'm going with ZZZZ this time, which translates to I'm going to talk about sleep.

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Sleep is important to us, or well me. I like me some sleep. I enjoy sleep and get many of my ideas from dreams. However, when I first started writing novels, I had a little problem. My character in the romance novel from 2008 NaNoWriMo went to bed often. Sure sometimes it was for fun play but sometimes it was just for sleep. And it's not just the romance. I used to end chapters with the character going to bed because I thought that was good to show and marked a good end of chapter as it was end of the character's day.

Glad I have learned otherwise before submitting those novels anywhere. I still am working on that factor in edit though I got a portion of them out in the first rewrite.

Because the thing is, while sometimes we wonder if during an adventure the characters ever do things like sleep, go to the bathroom, shower and such, for the most part we don't need to see them actually do it.

The thing we don't want to do is make the reader fall asleep. And if the character is going to sleep too often the book may end up getting put down because or not read in its entirety because they got bored and skipped to the better parts.

Sleep is good but there are times and places for it.


Do you like sleep?
Ever have a problem with characters sleeping in stories?

       Z Z Z Z Z Z Z

Y is for Years

By years I mean, measuring progress in years. It's easy to get lost in the now at times, to think we're making no progress at all. This is especially true when I'm not as far along in a goal as I thought I'd be by that time. I didn't think it'd take the number of years it has to get me to this point but at the same time it's amazing to see what I have accomplished when I look back over the years later.

For some it won't take long, not everyone goes on the same path in this crazy writing journey. It can take years, and not just 2 I mean it can take 10, 15 or 20 years for some to get to certain stages in the journey. 

I'm editing now. But the novel I'm editing I started writing back in 2007. Back then I didn't know how long it would take because I'd never finished a novel, I'd never written past 10,000 words back then, and I'd certainly never rewritten or edited a novel. It has been a long journey so far but I've learned so much over the years.


Every time I feel like I'm taking too long to get anything accomplished, I step back and look over the things I have done over the years. It helps me see that I have done lots of writing and I can't wait to do even more.


Do you focus on the years or worry about taking too long?

X is for X Rated

X rated as in those naughty stories, that is right. But more in the difference in writing erotica versus other genres when people ask about your writing. Because that is one awkward conversation in many work settings.

I write a lot of different stories. I range from young adult and middle grade, to fantasy, science fiction, mystery, horror attempts and yes, romance erotica. I started writing erotica flash fiction and short stories back in 2008 just to see if I could and my first finished novel draft was a 50,000 word NaNoWriMo romance erotica. Two of the 4 finished first drafts are romance erotica and one novel that has a very dedicated fan I haven't finished yet is also of that genre. But it does lead to some uncomfortable moments when admitting to writing an X rated story.

One example: my dad. *waves hi if he reads the blogs*
Yeah, so I finished my NaNoWriMo first draft and who wanted to read it? My dad. I am lucky to have very encouraging parents when it comes to my novel writing but when family wants to read the erotica, that is when it gets a little weird. I guess I should also clarify that I don't just write erotica, I write gay male erotica. He never read the novel and I'm okay with that fact. Though I never hide what kinds of stories I write.

At work now, I have some coworkers who are curious about my writing. Some have even mentioned how I could bring some of it in to work to share. I don't own a printer so that won't happen. However, it did get a little awkward when in public (I'm a cashier and work in a few different departments) I had to explain to coworkers what I write. And next thing I get is "so like Shades of Grey?"... Umm no. Not like it at all.

Though it's a minor nuisance how that is the standard for that genre. I mean, if I say I write magic stories for teens then I would get a Harry Potter question. Or just saying young adult may get a Twilight comment (which I'd be quick to say no to that one cause I don't write any vampire stuff sparkly or not). Fantasy has many authors to be compared to like Jordan, Salvatore, Martin, Weiss, Tolkien, etc. In fact many genres have some really great authors to compare to, even young adult has amazing authors like Tamora Pierce and such. I wouldn't mind comparisons to some of them, but I need to get those novels finished and edited for that. But say I write erotica and it's Shades of Grey. But I digress.

Do you ever write anything X rated?
How do you handle telling others about it and the comparisons?

W is for Write

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I need to write.

What about you?