"Old" People Writing for Teens V

jtrylch, you can try agentquery.com and querytracker.com to narrow your results. From my friends with agents, it seems they met them at conferences. Networking may be key. Too bad I am horrible with networking. I love going to conferences, but networking, yeah, not so much.

There is a lot of activity on Twitter....like #pitchmad and #mswl (wish lists). Those seem worthwhile to follow. I got some activity from agents in a pitchmad session...and the wish lists help you find agents interested in what you are creating.

I found my critique group through SCBWI. They are usually my beta readers, and invaluable to me. I tend to write difficult subjects, and they get it!

Oh, I should mention that I found my agent on Guide to Literary Agents, a Writer's Digest blog. They do profiles on new agents and agents actively looking for new clients. I saw a profile on her, queried her the next day, got a full request the day after that.

jtrylch13 said:

Does anyone have any advice for how to find the best agent to fit your novel. Based on my research, selling my novel is going to be a tough sell anyway, but I can't just query agents that have a post-apocalyptic on their list, because, well, they already have a PA on their list. And I can't just query random agents that represent YA. I mean, I guess I can, but I'd like to be a little more focused than just querying everyone under the sun. And my novel has a few dark elements, or at least, I don't shy away from violence or alluding to the horrible things that can happen to people, so that narrows my list. But I'm having difficulty locating agents that I think will be right for my book. Any thoughts?

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In addition to what the others have said, look at their blogs and at the books they've represented. Look for agents who you think would be a good fit for you personality-wise. I started at Query Tracker and compiled a giant list of YA agents, then narrowed down based on their blogs, tweets, books, etc.

paintitreadbooks said:

I have noticed that quite a few of you are a part of a writing group, and I was wondering how you found them? I would love to get involved in a local writing group, especially with other people who read YA, but I have no idea how to even go about finding one.

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I found mine through a co-worker. He published through a small local publisher that runs a critique group. It took me six months to get up the nerve to join. You can try SCBWI and Meet Up.

lenore_x said:

Now I'm curious, at what point do you guys know you're at the beta stage? In the past I would do a pretty light round of revisions on my first draft, decide it was perfect, then start sending it out. This time I've tried to put much more effort in before involving betas. I'm at a tricky spot because I feel like there's more I could do, but I keep having second thoughts on every idea... which I think may be a sign that it is, in fact, beta time!

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I send to betas when I think I have the ms in the best shape I can get it in by myself. I always edit for grammar, etc first too, so I'm sending a clean, polished draft. I wrote a blog post about getting ready to query, but some of the steps are what I do when getting ready to beta too. If you're interested.

Ellaroni said:

Looking for them in my sig sounds like a promising idea, Stiger. I'm a bit cautious, though - I don't 'know' that many people on AW, and handing over a draft to a complete stranger feels weird. Not saying anyone will steal my work, by all means - just a quirk of mine, being a very private person.

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You can always link your sig to a post with your query in the beta reader thread. I was super nervous when I started looking for betas for the same reason. I didn't know a lot of people on AW and was scared of taking discussions off the forum, handing out my actual email, etc. I haven't had a problem, though. I usually start with no more than three chapters and see how it goes. I wrote a post about this too if you're interested in reading it. (I swear I'm not just trying to get blog traffic, haha).

Stiger05 said:

You can always link your sig to a post with your query in the beta reader thread. I was super nervous when I started looking for betas for the same reason. I didn't know a lot of people on AW and was scared of taking discussions off the forum, handing out my actual email, etc. I haven't had a problem, though. I usually start with no more than three chapters and see how it goes. I wrote a post about this too if you're interested in reading it. (I swear I'm not just trying to get blog traffic, haha).

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Haha, I took your blog bait, of course, and then realized I've read that post before - but thank you for the reminder. Very good advice

Writing groups: I found mine through a writer's workshop I went to for the sole purpose of hopefully finding writing buddies. It cost me money, but the group is great. My 'problem' is we all write different genres, and I'd love to have a group with YA writers only.

Since AW is the only writing forum I'm active in, I think this great place is my best shot at expanding the beta circle

On a different note: there's a comedy festival in my hometown right now, so tonight me and the husband are going to see American stand-up fella Jim Breuer. We saw Jack Dee (English) last week, and he was is usual dry witty self (=good), but looking forward to an American tonight.

Ellaroni said:

Haha, I took your blog bait, of course, and then realized I've read that post before - but thank you for the reminder. Very good advice

Writing groups: I found mine through a writer's workshop I went to for the sole purpose of hopefully finding writing buddies. It cost me money, but the group is great. My 'problem' is we all write different genres, and I'd love to have a group with YA writers only.

Since AW is the only writing forum I'm active in, I think this great place is my best shot at expanding the beta circle

On a different note: there's a comedy festival in my hometown right now, so tonight me and the husband are going to see American stand-up fella Jim Breuer. We saw Jack Dee (English) last week, and he was is usual dry witty self (=good), but looking forward to an American tonight.

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Haha, well thanks for reading!

I love Jim Breuer! I was on my university program council's speakers and comedians committee in college, so I got to see him and meet him back in 2005. It was awesome! The same show was also Mitch Hedberg's last (or next to it, I forget) performance before he died. I didn't get to meet him, though. He was high as a kite and left as soon as his performance was done.

Aw, I loved Mitch Hedberg! My husband is obsessed with Gabriel Iglesias, so I am getting him tickets to see him the day after Christmas. It's going to be a surprise on Christmas morning. I can't wait!

Thanks everyone for the agent search advice, but it only confirms I am doing all I can in the first place. I have done and am doing every single thing mentioned, plus a few of my own. I guess I was looking for a way to narrow down the search instead of just looking at lists of ALL YA agents and selecting ones who might be a good fit. That's pretty much what I'm doing anyway. Guess there's no way to cheat and just find a list of agents who like dark-ish YA. I don't mind the research, because the more I read the more I learn about just everything in the publishing industry. Including that YA Post-Apoc is all but dead. Not quite dead, but nearly there. I did get a pretty decent agent to request a partial (which she rejected) based on a Post-Apoc query. Well, back to work.

paintitreadbooks said:

Aw, I loved Mitch Hedberg! My husband is obsessed with Gabriel Iglesias, so I am getting him tickets to see him the day after Christmas. It's going to be a surprise on Christmas morning. I can't wait!

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Awww...that is so sweet! Can't wait to hear what his reaction was!

Another great source if you're looking for an agent is to read the MSWL tag on Twitter, or look at one of the aggregate sites for it - like this one. I have heard there are others, too, but I don't know where they're at. That one can be sorted by tags - so you can see if any agents are asking for a YA that sounds like what you've written, and it filters out the tweets by authors talking about MSWL so you get just the pros, so if you're not super Twitter capable you can still get the information.

Stiger05 said:

Haha, well thanks for reading!

I love Jim Breuer! I was on my university program council's speakers and comedians committee in college, so I got to see him and meet him back in 2005. It was awesome! The same show was also Mitch Hedberg's last (or next to it, I forget) performance before he died. I didn't get to meet him, though. He was high as a kite and left as soon as his performance was done.

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Jim Breuer was GREAT! It's been a while since my abs have been through this kind of hard work. I laughed so hard I cried. My face is completely distorted from the spasms induced by this guy! I've heard a few of his pieces before, but seeing him live just added a different and fantastic dimension to the genius on display.

I've done it. I put my first pages up in SYW. I'm very genuinely tempted to yank it down. This is scary.

I am plotting my nano, and a second plot keeps sneaking in and begging for attention. I don't know what I'm going to do.

Stiger - you got two clicks out of me.

CoffeeBeans said:

I've done it. I put my first pages up in SYW. I'm very genuinely tempted to yank it down. This is scary.

I am plotting my nano, and a second plot keeps sneaking in and begging for attention. I don't know what I'm going to do.

Stiger - you got two clicks out of me.

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Put it in your siggy!

mellymel said:

Put it in your siggy!

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Okay, I did it. I wasn't going to, in hopes that people wouldn't look at the thread anyway, but I guess that would be purpose defeating, eh?

Your blog is awesome Stiger.

Hello everyone! This recent move has really thrown me off the boards. I still don't have internet (currently using a phone hotspot) and won't until the 30th. Butttt at least I'm getting some brainstorming done for my Nano!!!

How's everyone else doing?

KSavoie said:

Hello everyone! This recent move has really thrown me off the boards. I still don't have internet (currently using a phone hotspot) and won't until the 30th. Butttt at least I'm getting some brainstorming done for my Nano!!!

How's everyone else doing?

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I'm doing ok! Completely outlined a YA Lesbian Gothic Romance, so it looks like my YA Horror will be taking a back seat for NaNo. I'm excited! I've written fanfics based around romance, but never an original story that is a Romance. I get to take more of my fanfic skills than usual and use them!

lenore_x said:

Your blog is awesome Stiger.

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Aw, thanks!

KSavoie said:

Hello everyone! This recent move has really thrown me off the boards. I still don't have internet (currently using a phone hotspot) and won't until the 30th. Butttt at least I'm getting some brainstorming done for my Nano!!!

How's everyone else doing?

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Boo, no internet! At least you only have to stick it out for one more week. And yay for brainstorming!

Good luck to all you NANOers!

Hey Kev! Other than no internet, how goes it???? How does it feel to have no papers and tests to study for? It's weird, isn't it?

So I saw Andrew McMahon last night and it was pure amazingness. His performance was even better than the last time I saw him, and the venue was super small and intimate and there were like, less than two hundred people there, so there was lots of on-stage chatting and direct eye contact since I was right near the front. At the very end, he threw the red Solo cup he'd been drinking out of and it bounced to a spot near the front of the stage. I waited, thinking someone would surely grab it, but everyone just took pictures of it and left. So I grabbed it and I'm now the proud owner of Andrew McMahon's whiskey-scented cup.

I can't believe this is my life.

Hahaha. You should've gotten him to sign it!

Coming from the proud owner of Pat McGee's broken guitar string.

KSavoie said:

Hello everyone! This recent move has really thrown me off the boards. I still don't have internet (currently using a phone hotspot) and won't until the 30th. Butttt at least I'm getting some brainstorming done for my Nano!!!

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I did the no internet/phone hot-spot thing for a year. It's not the most fun, but it's better than nothing, right? More time for focusing on writing, call it that

Sage said:

I had a group that met for NaNoWriMo write-ins and really hit it off. So about January after that first year, we started sending messages to each other, "Want to meet at MoJoe's again? Same WriMo time, same WriMo channel?" And then we stuck to that same time and place (until the place changed )

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My region throws this idea out every year. Since I'm the ML, they all look to me. I say they can sort out a regular writing group, and somehow it never takes off.

Becca C. said:

I can't believe this is my life.

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Don't forget to date the bottom of the cup so you don't toss it in a clean up!

People have posted on my scene, and said awesome and helpful things. It's so exciting.

It also really makes me want to do the other book in that world as my nano... it is half plotted.

Coffeebeans, I keep meaning to post, but something always pulls me away from the computer, but just want to say that your writing is fantastic. I will try to get over to SYW later to leave a comment. Doing homework with kids now. Gotta go, gotta go, see you later 'bout a cat, and you can't beat that with a bat.

(old school, let's see how old y'all really are. )

Stiger05 said:

Hahaha. You should've gotten him to sign it!

Coming from the proud owner of Pat McGee's broken guitar string.

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I thought about it, but I didn't want to give it to a roadie in case I didn't get it back, and Andrew went right back to his bus to see his wife and baby after the show. Totally understandable. The cup and the eye contact and the amazing concert were enough.

CoffeeBeans said:

Don't forget to date the bottom of the cup so you don't toss it in a clean up!

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I'm thinking of buying or making a 3D cube picture frame and framing it! That would be neat.


In other news: I finished my revision and sent it in to my agent. Gulp. But I'm so, so excited about where the manuscript is right now. I think it's brilliant, if I do say so myself

Becca C. said:

In other news: I finished my revision and sent it in to my agent. Gulp. But I'm so, so excited about where the manuscript is right now. I think it's brilliant, if I do say so myself

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Yay, Becca! That must feel so good!