Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Post: Wait A Second--This Isn't Monday?


An apology is in order. If you came by yesterday and was disappointed by the lack of my usual Monday post, well, I hope you didn't mind too much. Being sick is not fun. I'll just leave it at that. In fact, I have little memory of what went on yesterday. Maybe that's a good thing.

I do remember WriteOnCon, however, and man! What an awesome experience! All the social interaction of a writer's conference without the travel, lodging, and other general expenses. The only complaint I have is that it's HUGE! There were so many awesome writers there that it was virtually impossible (that's punny!) to look at even a quarter of what people posted (at least for me and my limited internet use). There's an ocean of talent and hard work out there. I commend you all!

What I took from WriteOnCon:

Read your market--as much as you can.
Make sure your MS is FINISHED before you query.
If you have no web presence, start a blog or site NOW!
Don't stress. It might take ten novels to get there.
Be careful what you post. Agents are watching ...
Never. Never. Never. Never EVER give up!

(That's right, Fievel. I said it!)

(I love that movie). Now, I'm not going to lie. My jaw dropped when I logged in. Maybe it had something to do with mingling among the awesomeness of WriteOnCon or some other cosmic force at work, but this little corner of the internet has SIXTEEN NEW MEMBERS to recognize!

 Let's hear it for this weeks Shout-Outs!

Increase some traffic for these bloggers!

In case you're wondering, the answer is yes--if one more terrific blogger decides this blog is cool enough to follow, and does so, I will host an awesome 200 MEMBER GIVEAWAY (similar to my first giveaway)! Go out and spread the word. Why? Because we all like free books!

Thank you for your continuing followship and support!

Update: I fear I may not have sent out my best query for Woven. Luckily, it was a small batch and not dozens. Still, I'll never know if I blew my chance with those I received rejections from (and I'm happy with every one of them). When I finish my next WiP, I'll definitely query them again. For those of you who helped tear at my query for all it's worth at WriteOnCon, I thank you! Speaking of WiP, I started my first stab at MG over the weekend. Looking good so far, for a primer coat. I'd shed more tasty details when the time is right (hint).

Have a great week, my friends! Dream on, think on, write on! Look for a new Aspiring Advice post this Thursday (unless I get sick again--let's hope not).

I'm David, and where can I find a good menu?

*Edit* Look for a giveaway post tomorrow!

And I'm going to be a Campaigner this year, hosted by Rachael Harrie. Looking forward to meeting others! If you want to do the same, check out this campaign!


(Excited!)
Posted by at

44 comments:

  1. Donna K. WeaverAugust 23, 2011 at 10:07 AM

    So the bottom line is just write and edit and learn and interact, I guess.

    Hmmm. I guess I can do that. =D

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  2. Emily R. KingAugust 23, 2011 at 10:21 AM

    I always enjoy reading your posts, David. Thanks for making me laugh again. Oh, and I learned all the same things you did at WriteOnCon. It was a blast!

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  3. Abby FowersAugust 23, 2011 at 10:46 AM

    I've been sick too. No fun. Glad you're posting and feeling better. WriteOnCon was truly awesome. It really was huge, but so helpful! I'm excited to have you hit 200 followers! YAY for you and YAY for a giveaway! *cheers*

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  4. JessAugust 23, 2011 at 10:50 AM

    Hey thanks so much for the Shout-Out! What an honor!

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  5. Steph SchmidtAugust 23, 2011 at 10:56 AM

    Everyone sends out a dud query letter. That's why it was incredibly smart of you to only send it out to a handful of agents. Keep moving forward!

    Also you stink for leaving two clues about that MG wip. Unless ID is the initials of the title and not the actual title....

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  6. MarkAugust 23, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    Hope you're feeling better. And a Fievel reference never hurts either;)

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  7. Christine MurrayAugust 23, 2011 at 11:03 AM

    Thanks for the shout-out! Much appreciated. Hope you're feeling better. Great blog, by the way :)

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  8. Carolyn VAugust 23, 2011 at 11:03 AM

    I'm so sorry you were sick yesterday. =( I hate being sick. I totally missed WriteOnCon this year. I'm going to have to hop over and see what happened. =)

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  9. Martha RamirezAugust 23, 2011 at 11:14 AM

    Thanks so much for the shout-out, David! You rock! You got an awesome blog here. I am following your blog but missed it cuz I don't receive it via email.

    Can you possibly add an email notification option so people like me can read via email? I did a blogpost on how to add here: http://martzbookz.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-add-email-notifications-to.html
    And yes, WriteOn Con was great!!
    Hop you feel better soon!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Angelica R. JacksonAugust 23, 2011 at 11:15 AM

    You must be feeling better if you're making puns and thinking about food (even if it's only writing about food)! Thanks for the shout out.

    I felt like I "wasted" my first batch of queries (in spite of several partial and full requests in that round), too, but honestly not only did the query need work, the manuscript did too.

    Both have changed so much that I would have no qualms going back and re-querying those agents at this point, 2 years later.

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  11. kjmckendryAugust 23, 2011 at 11:15 AM

    I thought WriteOnCon was great too! Good luck with your queries.

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  12. David P. KingAugust 23, 2011 at 11:15 AM

    Donna, Carolyn, Mark, Abby - Thank you. I was lucky enough to get over it quickly. Now I'm ready to hit the pages again!

    Christine, Jess - You're welcome! :)

    Steph - No. ID is not a clue...at all... (it's my way of saying "In Development"). The tasty part is a solid clue, though.

    Good idea, Martha, and you're welcome! I'll do just that. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Small Town Shelly BrownAugust 23, 2011 at 11:18 AM

    You SO did the 200! plus! Congrats!
    WriteOnCon was awesome even though I was only able to attend half of what I would have liked to. I'll have to go back and read the rest.
    Best of luck to you David!

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  14. David P. KingAugust 23, 2011 at 11:23 AM

    Angelica - I might just have to do that, too, all things depending. Your encouragement and comments are appreciated!

    kmckendry - Yes is was. Have I not looked at anything of yours yet? I better check.

    Shelly - Oh wow! That was fast! Now to set up a contest post. Thank you very much! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Martha RamirezAugust 23, 2011 at 11:25 AM

    That was quick. I almost thought I didn't see the email notification last visit until I read ur comment. Thanks. I'm all signed up now:)

    Happy writing!

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  16. Jamaica GolfAugust 23, 2011 at 11:52 AM

    Good to know you're up and about again. Hope the new WiP continues to go well.

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  17. Rebecca BlevinsAugust 23, 2011 at 11:58 AM

    Hey, David! Thanks for the shout-out! I see we have some friends in common. Way cool.

    WriteOnCon was amazing! And congrats on starting MG. I love writing for that age range!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Peggy EddlemanAugust 23, 2011 at 1:22 PM

    We were trying to cram too much summer fun into the last few days before school started, so I had to miss WriteOnCon! I still need to get over there and try to find out as much of what I missed as I can. Thanks for the recap!

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  19. UnknownAugust 23, 2011 at 2:01 PM

    Thanks again for the shout-out. It's an honor.

    I hope you're feeling better now. I've discovered lately that preparing a query is more challenging than penning a whole book, or is it just me? I'm writing like crazy these days and it becomes difficult to read all the great available material online. I like your blog. You are a legend to have over 200 followers.

    And thanks for following me as well.

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  20. Elizabeth Varadan, AuthorAugust 23, 2011 at 4:31 PM

    Good post, and thanks for the new links. I know some of them, but made some nice discoveries. Sorry you were sick, but glad you are better now. I always enjoy your posts!

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  21. Doralynn KennedyAugust 23, 2011 at 5:16 PM

    I'm glad you're feeling better, and that post was chock full of good advice. Wish I'd known about WriteOn, but I missed that one. And so true about being careful what you post. I'm afraid I've violated that a few times. I've also sent off several queries that were disaster. Just can't write a good query to save my manuscript.

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  22. Michael Offutt, Phantom ReaderAugust 23, 2011 at 5:28 PM

    Best of luck on your query road David. You shall have amazing success I'm sure.

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  23. Sarah TokeleyAugust 23, 2011 at 6:26 PM

    David, so glad you're feelng better. Steph mistaking Id for your title has just given me an idea...

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  24. Alleged AuthorAugust 23, 2011 at 6:36 PM

    Glad you are feeling better. I, too, was overwhelmed by WriteOnCon. Would've read every single book on there. :)

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  25. Jessica LoveAugust 23, 2011 at 7:44 PM

    I'm in your YA campaign group, so I'm stopping by to say hi!

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  26. Jenny S. MorrisAugust 23, 2011 at 9:05 PM

    Glad your feeling better, and that you received so much help at WriteOnCon. I'm still trying to get through all the awesome stuff I missed on it.

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  27. Miranda HardyAugust 24, 2011 at 5:04 AM

    Stopping over through the campaign. Glad you attended writeoncon. It's great!

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  28. Giles HashAugust 24, 2011 at 6:46 AM

    Just saying "hi" to all of the members of the YA group I joined in the campaign.

    Hi :D

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  29. Cynthia Chapman WillisAugust 24, 2011 at 8:32 AM

    Thanks for sharing some of what you experienced with WriteOnCon, and for the links. I hope you're feeling better!

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  30. Christa DesirAugust 24, 2011 at 11:59 AM

    Awesome! Glad to be on your team.

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  31. EllenAugust 24, 2011 at 1:39 PM

    "Be careful what you post" -- good to remember!! And, I'm campaigning with ya, yay! :)

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  32. Patricia A. Timms-McGeheeAugust 24, 2011 at 2:41 PM

    Awe, thanks for the shout out. Dang, now I need to get on top of my blogging. I've had so much to do since the conference. Haha!

    Thanks again!

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  33. Melissa SarnoAugust 24, 2011 at 4:28 PM

    Hello from a fellow campaigner. I loved Write On Con, but I'm still trying to get through all the information. So awesome. Pleasure to 'meet' you :-)

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  34. MeradethAugust 24, 2011 at 4:35 PM

    Another campaigner here! Nice to meet ya! (And google is making my life difficult at the moment--I'm Meradeth from the group!)

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  35. KelleyAugust 25, 2011 at 6:04 AM

    Awesome, awesome. I love shout-outs! Thanks you for including me.

    Big <3
    Kelley :)

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  36. E. ArroyoAugust 25, 2011 at 6:41 AM

    That was my favorite movie too! I'm a fellow campaigner. Looking forward to reachinig out and meeting new bloggers.

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  37. A.M.SupingerAugust 25, 2011 at 10:08 AM

    I was over on WriteCon too :)I haven't finished reading through everything, but it's been a great experience!

    I enjoyed your post :)

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  38. Simon KewinAugust 25, 2011 at 2:23 PM

    Just dropping by to say hi and to follow. I'm in your fantasy group on the Campaign! Really looking forward to diving in ...

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  39. BluestockingAugust 26, 2011 at 10:34 AM

    Hi David, I'm in the SF campaign group -- looking forward to getting to know you these next couple of months!

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  40. LewinnaAugust 26, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    Beautiful images on this blog of yours. :)

    I'm dropping by from your Fantasy 3 group on the Campaign. Already I'm inspired by all the fantasy authors I've "met" so far! You guys are quite amazing.

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  41. alberta rossAugust 26, 2011 at 12:35 PM

    dropping in to say hi to fellow campaigner and press all the appropiate buttons!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Karen deBlieckAugust 28, 2011 at 1:14 PM

    Hey I'm in your fantasy group and thought I would take a boo at your blog. Very nice and easy to read. :) Hope to see you around the fantasy water cooler. :)

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  43. AnonymousAugust 31, 2011 at 3:54 AM

    Thanks for the shout out ;)

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  44. Roger EschbacherAugust 31, 2011 at 8:47 PM

    Hi David, Thanks for stopping by. Nice to meet you!

    ReplyDelete

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