How to Find a Literary Agent: 101

Ah, literary agents. Those elusive, mystical creatures that you can only find at the end of a double rainbow. Or at least, that's what it can feel like to a new author. After the excitement of completing your book has worn off, it's time to take the next step to find an agent (if you're planning to go the traditional route). Yes, you can still query certain small presses and publishing houses directly without an agent, but you have a better chance of getting your foot in the door if you have someone praising your book. 

So, where do you start? 

Books:

• Favorite Books: Look at your favorite books that match the genre of the manuscript you're trying to publish and take note of the publisher. From there, you can do a search online to see what agents work with that publishing company. If the agents accept similar books, they may be interested in taking a look at yours.

  • Some publishing houses don't require you to have an agent. DAW, for example, accepts unsolicited fantasy and science fiction novels. So if you don't want to take the time to find a literary agent, that's another way to go about trying to get your book published. 

• Guide to Literary Agents 2019: This book, along with those in years past, can help you select an agent. It guides you in preparing a query letter and introduces you some of the current agents who are seeking submissions. 

• Writer's Digest: Whether it's in magazine form or online, Writer's Digest always has a plethora of information about the writing world. They even have their own section on locating literary agents and will sometimes promote particular agents in their printed magazines (which I highly recommend). Not only that, they provide great advice on how to prep yourself to query agents/publishers/editors. 

Query Tracker and #MSWishList

• Query Tracker: This free site is a great way to scope out publishers and agents. Not only can you see who is or isn't accepting queries, you can categorize what fields you're most interested in (fantasy, YA, romance, etc). You have to sign up to do a specific search for an agent, but again, it's free. The people on this list are considered legitimate agents as well, so if you hear about an agent who might be a good match for you, run their name through Query Tracker first. 

• #MSWishList: This site shows the manuscript wish lists of agents and editors and also provides advice on writing query letters. An editor is a good route to go as well because they may be able to connect you with an agent. Scroll through and see who's interested in your genre and click on their names to learn more about them and what literary agency they represent. Also, make sure to put their names through Query Tracker for additional information. 

#Pitchwars and #Pitmad

• #Pitchwars: This is a Twitter mentoring program that happens once a year.  Published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each to mentor. The mentors then help the writer perfect their manuscript to prepare it for an agent showcase. Participating agents review the lists of books and will make requests. This year's Pitch Wars mentee application window opens on September 25th and will stay open until September 27th, so get those manuscripts ready! 

• #Pitmad: This is a "pitch party" on Twitter where writers pitch their completed, polished, and unpublished manuscripts in tweets they share throughout the day. Agents and editors make requests by liking or favoriting the pitch, which means you can query directly to them. Keep in mind that you have to be unagented to participate. #Pitmad happens quarterly, and the next one is actually this Thursday, June 6th! To learn more, check out the site, or you can read my past entry, Brace Yourselves: #Pitmad is Coming. 

Make Literary Friends

• Whether in person, through twitter, facebook, or instagram, try to make literary friends. Sometimes the best way to find agents is by learning about them from other writers. You can also follow agents on twitter and see when they're looking for manuscripts to represent. And believe me, most of them are nice and won't bite ;-). Just be yourself, and don't harass the agents about reviewing your manuscript. Be patient. Just like you needed time to write it, they'll need time to read it. 

Important: Before you even begin reaching out to agents, keep these things in mind: 

• Look for an agent who represents your genre.

• Take note of the agent's submission requirements, because everyone has something different. 

• Make sure you have your manuscript polished and ready for review. If they make a full request, you don't want to have to tell them that you're not done. 

• Book summary: complete

• Pitches: complete

• Query letter (without the personal info directed to the agent): complete. 

I hope this helps you take the next step to getting your book traditionally published. Remember, you're not alone, and I believe in you. 

Colors and Symbolism in Writing

Color and imagery play such important roles in all forms of media. They can enhance how we might view a character or act as a device for foreshadowing. Some colors can blatantly symbolize who's good and who is evil, or denote where the character's loyalty resides. While it's easier to see on tv and in film, it's just as important in books. 

First, what do the colors mean? Taking a look at Judy Scott-Kemmis' website Empowered by Color, she outlines the different emotions created by color. 

• Red: Generally this is the color associated with passion, sex, energy, and ambition. But it's also the color of anger (which is generally why people might have heightened emotions when sitting in a red room). 

• Orange: Social communication and optimism. It can also be a more negative sign of pessimism. 

• Yellow: Color of the mind and intellect but it can also suggest impatience and cowardice. (Maybe this is why the mind stone in Avengers is yellow). 

• Green: This is the color of balance and growth. Though it can also be a sign of jealousy/envy. 

• Blue: Tranquility, trust, and peace. Some rooms are painted this color to help people feel calm. 

• Purple: Imagination (both creative or impractical) 

• Pink: Unconditional love as well as immature and girlish 

• Brown: Down-to-earth, protection, and comfort

• White: Purity, innocence, completion 

• Gray: Compromise 

• Black: Mystery, secrecy 

Keep in mind, this is one person's view of color, but it seems pretty universal in other studies (though with some minor differences). 

How do these colors come to play in stories? 

Good vs Evil

Let's start with Star Wars. Generally the Jedi Knights wear white/beige clothing while the Sith are dressed all in black. As a character slips to the dark side, their clothing color seems to change (ie Anakin Skywalker). Of course, it can be argued that Luke was wearing black at the beginning of Return of the Jedi, so was that meant to throw us off or hint that perhaps Luke could still slip to the dark side? 

Their lightsabers, as well, seem to play a part in good vs evil. Jedi wield green (growth) and blue (peace) lightsabers while the Sith use red (anger). 

When we're told stories, it's not uncommon for the good character to wear white clothing to represent purity while the villain is cloaked in black/darkness. Obviously this has led to discussions about how this just reinforces racism (white = good, black = bad). So some writers have tried to move away from this trope. Or, so-called bad characters are starting to have redeeming stories told about them (ie. the film Maleficent). 

Color and World Building

Color also plays a big part in world building, as some societies are built directly around color. Let's address Avatar: The Last Airbender. Each of the nations (earth, fire, water, air) have different colors to denote their different kingdoms. Earth Kingdom wears brown, yellow, and green. Water Tribe wears blue, purple, and white. Air Nomads wear orange and yellow. The Fire Nation wears primarily red, brown, and black. They each have their own distinct color, and it works well with what we've learned about what the colors mean. Green/growth and brown/down-to-earth seems very fitting for the Earth Kingdom. Blue/peace, purple/imagination, and white/purity works well for the Water Tribe, while red/anger and black/mystery embodies the Fire Nation. 

The world of Harry Potter does this with the houses as well. Gryffindor is red and gold. Ravenclaw is blue and bronze. Slytherin is green and silver. And Hufflepuff is yellow and black. 

Star Trek also plays around with colors. Now, each ship or generation kind of varies their uniforms, but in general blue = sciences, yellow = command, red = you have a death wish. But in all seriousness, if you look at articles about Star Trek like "The Take" you'll find that every person wore a specific uniform designated to their station. Unfortunately, the red shirts just often went down to the planet and never came back. 

Foreshadowing 

Colors can also be used to foreshadow events, or show a character's progression or regression mentally. The big example I'm going to use is from Season 8 of Game of Thrones. You can skip ahead if you haven't seen the season yet and don't want spoilers. 

***Begin GOT Spoiler****

In the case of Daenerys Targaryen, her color scheme changes drastically along with her mentality. In Episode 1, she wears pure white clothing. She is in the north, with her lover, ready to fight a battle to save the people. She still has her best friend, her mentor, and her two dragons. Her intentions are pure. Between episodes 2-4, her white clothing takes on red lines. They just fought a battle and she watched someone she cared for deeply die before her eyes. Not only that, she starts to realize she doesn't have the support of the people like Jon Snow. Then she loses her best friend and another one of her dragons. Episodes 5 and 6, her clothing shifts to red and black during the burning of King's Landing and her ascension to the throne. In previous seasons, she had mostly worn white, blue, and browns (purity, peace, down-to-earth), and in the end, she goes mad while wearing red (anger) and black (mystery). It was a beautiful, though tragic event, of what was to come. 

***End GOT Spoiler***

Another element of foreshadowing comes, again, from Star Wars. When Anakin first starts his training, he's in the traditional white or brown Jedi garb. But as the story progresses, and he starts to slip towards the dark side, his clothing changes to black. The last time we see him whole, he's fighting in black attire against Obi-Wan in white. After that, he's left in his Darth Vader suit just so he can survive. We watched through color as he slipped away from the light to darkness. 

These are just a few reasons why you might consider using colors in your story. For lack of better words, you paint a broader and more beautiful picture of your world when you add in these elements. From color meanings, to symbolism and foreshadowing, there's so much you can play with. 

Fantasy and Society (OWS CyCon)

Introduction 

I'd like to offer you a warm welcome to my blog. I write what you want to read, so feel free to drop a topic below! I hope you enjoyed visiting Timothy Bateson's blog. If you haven't stopped by, make sure to check him out! 

My name is Erin Casey, and I'm an urban fantasy/YA fantasy/medieval fantasy writer. My first book The Purple Door District came out December 2018, and the next book in the series, Wolf Pit, will be released in December 2019. To learn more about my series, and all the other projects I'm doing, find me on my website, twitter, instagram, and facebook. 

If you've come here from OWS CyCon, you can find my booth here. If you're new to OWS CyCon, CyCon is a weekend-long book online convention where you can meet authors, vote on book covers, check out interviews and readings... all without putting on pants! I'm also involved in cover wars, character wars, and several panels. Be sure to visit the CyCon website and Facebook events acting as the hub for all of our events. Sign up for our newsletter or RSVP to the event to make sure you don’t miss out on any of the bookish goodness we have to offer. Be sure to visit the Fantasy Sci-Fi Reader's Lounge, especially on Sunday, May 19th from 11am-12pm when I'll host an author takeover event. 

Now, with all the logistics out of the way, let's get into the heart of the blog post! 

Fantasy and Society 

Whether you write epic fantasy or urban fantasy, you have to find a way to integrate the fantastical world into "normal" society. How you do that depends on several factors of world building. We're going to talk about a few of these in hopes that they'll get you started in developing your fantasy world. 

Who Knows? The first question to ask yourself is who knows about magic and your "not human" characters (we'll call them parahuman in this case)? Are your parahumans just starting to come out in society or are they a secret hidden away from the government?

For example, in The Purple Door District, society is starting to learn about parahumans. There's a government section that is specifically devoted to the parahumans, though they generally keep to themselves unless otherwise needed. The way parahumans can find each other is by going to Purple Door Districts, safe havens that are marked by purple-colored doors, or purple-colored items at the front of the building. In this case, some people know about the parahumans, and others don't. They try not to announce themselves because Hunters lurk in the shadows, people who think parahumans are an abomination and want to kill them.

What about your world? Whether society knows about your parahumans or not can play a major factor in the danger your characters may endure. 

Jobs/Economy: What kind of jobs do your parahumans have (whether they're "out" or not in society)? Are werewolves more likely to take on heavy-lifting jobs like construction or maintenance work while suave vampires are more adapt to being lawyers? Do you have places that are run by magic (think of a coffee shop that's powered by magic and produces drinks with potions that help with stress, anxiety, weight loss, etc.)? Or do their abilities not influence where they work or what they do? Note: If you find the idea of a fae-run coffee shop interesting, check out my story Coffee Chaos on wattpad. 

Introducing Your Readers to Your World: Once you have your world established, how do you want to introduce the magic and society to your readers? Some writers will introduce a character who is human or not very aware of the parahuman world and slowly integrate them, and the readers, into the world. In other cases, you can use someone who knows about the world but has a very different view of it to help your readers adjust. Stick with some familiarity so that the readers don't feel completely overwhelmed. 

Government: As mentioned, The Purple Door District has a government faction that knows about the parahumans and keeps them in check. What about your world? How is the government involved? Do the parahumans have to watch their backs? Are they free to roam in society as they are? Does your world resemble X-Men where some government officials call for sanctions against them while others want to protect their rights? It's good to figure this out ahead of time because it can help you know just how much trouble you can get your characters in with or without government involvement. 

How Powerful Are Your Parahumans? Do they have abilities that could threaten all of humanity? Think of Professor Xavier and Cerebro and how his ability almost took out all humans/mutants in the 2nd X-men film. Are there fae who have their own world and government and could easily take over humankind? Or are your parahumans more like groups of vampires and werewolves who can be considered a threat but can't take over the entire world? Knowing this allows you to figure out how society might either accept or fear the parahumans. You can also play around with the characters who have different power levels. How would an overpowered character react to a situation vs someone who is weaker? Figuring out how you can integrate the fantasy element into society will help you further develop your characters. 

These are just a few elements to think about when you're integrating fantasy into society. One thing to keep in mind is that you want it to be believable. Know why parahumans act the way they do, or why society treats parahumans a certain way. Be creative, and most importantly, have fun! 

I hope that you found these tips helpful. If you want to learn more about integrating fantasy into society, take a look at Kayla Matt's blog. 

Happy writing! 

The Do's and Don'ts of Author Interviews

Whether you're a blogger interviewing an author, or an author responding to a blogger's questions, it's very important that you both provide quality and professional work when it comes to interviews. I've been interviewing authors for over a year now, (and been interviewed as well) and I've noticed a few things that both help and harm the interaction. So I'm going to divide this up between Do's and Don'ts for both authors and bloggers.

Authors

• Do

  • Provide all material requested from the blogger the first time around.

  • Edit your responses (spellcheck/use proper grammar and capitalization) so the blogger doesn't have to fix it.

  • Provide high-resolution pictures for yourself and your book covers.

  • Get your material to the blogger on time.

  • Answer all the questions (unless otherwise agreed upon) and provide interesting information. One-word responses won't engage the reader or the interviewer. 

  • Post the interview around to your social media platforms and give the blogger credit. 

• Don't
  

  • Badger the blogger about when your interview is coming out or keep requesting changes (unless you have a book coming out and need to provide a sale link). 

  • Act rudely towards the blogger. They're doing you a favor by creating the interview for you. 

  • Answer questions dishonestly 

  • Cut down other writers or bloggers in your answers. 

  • Ghost the blogger. 

Bloggers/Interviewers

• Do

  • Get questions to the authors when promised. 

  • Provide a designated day that you'll post the interview and stick to it.

  • Provide the author with a link to the posted interview so they can share it around.

  • Review the answers before you post it on your site in case of errors or controversial responses (depending on your site's dynamics). 

  • Answer any questions the author might have about the interview or provide clarification. 

  • Be honest to the author about what they can expect (are you posting the entire interview or just portions of it?) 

• Don't
  

  • Act rudely towards the author. You two are trying to work together to help one another. 

  • Post the interview late or not at all.

  • Ignore the author's concerns if something is posted incorrectly in the interview. 

  • Ghost the author. 

  • Promise a posting date until after the author has provided their material. (I've missed posting interviews because authors didn't give me their information in time). 

These are just a few ideas to keep in mind while interviewing and getting interviewed. Bloggers and authors should remember that they're working as a team. Together, they can provide exposure to each other. I've read far too often how authors have lashed out at book reviewers, bloggers, or interviewers for petty reasons. Bloggers can't post interviews without authors, but authors can't gain exposure without the help of bloggers. Work together harmoniously and you will both succeed. 

If you both find that you're on completely different pages, then it's also okay to politely agree to go your separate ways. What it comes down to is respect. We're all professionals here, and it's important to treat each other like people and not invisible faces. 

Meditation and Writing

Those of you who have followed my blog long enough know that I like to periodically spend time talking about mental health. As someone with depression and anxiety, it's important for me to find ways to relax my mind so I can heal and also focus on my writing. Most people also know that I suck at self care, and it's something I'm trying very hard to learn. 

Recently, I started attending group therapy that focuses on the mind, body, and soul. I always thought I was awful at meditation (I still struggle with it), but the more I work at it, the more I realize how much it calms me. Sometimes I use my own writing as a form of meditation, typing out a stream of consciousness without any concerns about my language or where I'm going with it. I do that when I talk about my dreams, or if I'm having an episode where I just really need to get my emotions out. I generally call that my angry poetry phase. 

But I digress. 

Meditation is a habit that I think we can all benefit from, so I'd like to share a few things I've learned, and other kinds of meditation I do to ease my stress/anxiety. 

Deep Breathing

This is probably one of the best and easiest ones to start out with. Whenever I get worked up (or wake up from nightmares like I did last night), I try to focus on deep breathing. Sit in a relaxed position and breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. You want to focus on making your belly feel soft. My guide suggests that you whisper "soft" when you breathe in, and "belly" when you breathe out. Try to do this for awhile. Even 5 minutes of deep breathing meditation can really help. It certainly helps me get through a bad work day. 

Here's a guided meditation that can help. 

Music and Mindfulness 

Once you have the breathing down, try to be mindful of your body. I like to put on soft music, usually water mixed with song or music that focuses on peaceful sleep. There are also a ton of apps on your phone that you can download that have guided meditation or songs. The app Calm is a great example. 

Lie down (or sit) in a comfortable position and turn on the music. Then focus on feeling each part of your body. Your arms, your legs, your fingers and toes, your head. Loosen each muscle one at a time and focus on your breathing and relaxing your body. Guided meditation can help you focus. Make sure you think about your body and don't let your mind wander (easier said than done for us writers). If it does wander, that's okay. Just pull it back into the moment. 

Only have a few minutes? Try a quick 5 minute meditation for things like anxiety. 

Imagery Meditation 

One of my favorite forms of meditation is something I didn't exactly realize I was doing until I talked with my therapist. Imagery meditation is essentially when you create an image in your head and focus on that. It could be imagining light coming down and wrapping around you. It could be picturing water or waves crashing against rocks. Maybe you see yourself on a beach or in a forest. Or, in my case, I imagine a garden that only I can enter. Focusing on each detail gives your mind something else to think about other than stresses or anything else that's bothering you. 

Here's a guided video for example. 

Animal Meditation

Okay, so this might be something that I made up, but I think animal lovers can understand where I'm coming from. There are moments when I pet my birds or preen them where all my stress just goes away. The same thing happens when Aladdin, my sun conure, sleeps on my chest. I can feel his breath and his little heartbeat and it calms me. I find myself relaxing and focusing on them and their happiness, and it makes me happy in return. Imagine doing that with a dog or a cat. I bet you wouldn't mind spending 10 or 15 minutes doting on them. 

So what does this have to do with writing? Well, often a more peaceful mind helps with my writing. The ideas flow more freely without bundles of anxiety and depression distracting me or clouding my brain. I've been playing meditative musical tracks while writing, and I can feel my anxiety go down while I work. 

Writing can also act as a prelude to meditation. If you're upset or filled with a bunch of emotion, write it out. Say everything you'd want to say without fear that someone is going to read it and judge you. Doing so can help you clear your mind and make you feel freer. It opens you up to meditation and writing your story. 

To be honest, I usually find myself relaxing so much with the guided meditation, that I just fall asleep. As someone who struggles with sleep, I'm not going to complain about that. I'm quite new and rusty with it, but meditation has already started to help with my depression. I hope it helps you as well. 

If you have any meditative practices you'd like to share, post them below!