Hilary Wagner's Blog

Excellent post on when it's time to say goodbye to your agent by Joy McCullough!! Link below!

PROJECT MAYHEM: ON PARTING WAYS WITH LITERARY AGENTS by Joy McCull...: Many stops along the writing journey are filled with maps and guidebooks and tour guides clamoring for the writer’s attention. Quer...

I think, as hopeful writers, and as human beings, it's extremely easy for us to get bogged down in fear. We fear we're writing about something that's won't be well received, or something that's been done to death, or we're writing too much for the market, or not enough for the market, or worst of all, that our work will be boring and not one soul will be interested in reading it. These are all real fears. I've realized over time, though, I need to use my fear to work harder, to inspire me. I use my fear to forget about the market and write what I want, because by the time whatever I'm writing is finished, the market will have completely changed, so I need to focus on what I want to write, not what I think others might want. Write and be free. I'm still fearful, but I'm free. If I fail, I fail my way.
When I became a "writer", I was pitifully ignorant to the publishing world. I had no clue about the market...heck, I didn't even know there was a market. I thought if a story was good, really good, it would get published. I had no idea about the uphill battle that was in front of me. I had no idea what a query letter was and how hard one would be to write. I had no idea that I'd be rejected nearly 200 times before finally getting an agent to notice my work. I had no idea how tricky things would become after getting published and how even well published authors (and I mean well published) have books that will never see the light of day. Yes, it's true, not everything a well published author writes is made of solid gold. :)
Long story short, it's never as easy as people think it is and every step in this industry can be a treacherous one, maybe not for your career, so much as your sanity. When I talk to kids and even adults about the publishing world I always start off with a particular letter. I think it's very telling when someone of a certain stature feels the exact same emotions you do. That fear, that feeling of doubt, is what makes each one of us unique, but unified. We all want to share our original thoughts with the world, yet the prospect is uniquely terrifying. If you're experiencing that doubt right now, please give the below letter a read. If anything, you'll realize you're not alone and and it's okay to be afraid. We all are.

Advice for Beginning Writers:
Although it must be a thousand years ago that I sat in a class in story writing at Stanford, I remember the experience very clearly. I was bright-eyed and bushy-brained and prepared to absorb the secret formula for writing good short stories, even great short stories. This illusion was canceled very quickly. The only way to write a good short story, we were told, is to write a good short story. Only after it is written can it be taken apart to see how it was done. It is a most difficult form, as we were told, and the proof lies in how very few great short stories there are in the world. 
The basic rule given us was simple and heartbreaking. A story to be effective had to convey something from the writer to the reader, and the power of its offering was the measure of its excellence. Outside of that, there were no rules. A story could be about anything and could use any means and any technique at all - so long as it was effective. As a subhead to this rule, it seemed to be necessary for the writer to know what he wanted to say, in short, what he was talking about. As an exercise we were to try reducing the meat of our story to one sentence, for only then could we know it well enough to enlarge it to three- or six- or ten-thousand words. 

So there went the magic formula, the secret ingredient. With no more than that, we were set on the desolate, lonely path of the writer. And we must have turned in some abysmally bad stories. If I had expected to be discovered in a full bloom of excellence, the grades given my efforts quickly disillusioned me. And if I felt unjustly criticized, the judgments of editors for many years afterward upheld my teacher's side, not mine. The low grades on my college stories were echoed in the rejection slips, in the hundreds of rejection slips.

It seemed unfair. I could read a fine story and could even know how it was done. Why could I not then do it myself? Well, I couldn't, and maybe it's because no two stories dare be alike. Over the years I have written a great many stories and I still don't know how to go about it except to write it and take my chances. 

If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced there is, no one has ever been able to reduce it to a recipe that can be passed from one person to another. The formula seems to lie solely in the aching urge of the writer to convey something he feels important to the reader. If the writer has that urge, he may sometimes, but by no means always, find the way to do it. You must perceive the excellence that makes a good story good or the errors that makes a bad story. For a bad story is only an ineffective story. 

It is not so very hard to judge a story after it is written, but, after many years, to start a story still scares me to death. I will go so far as to say that the writer who is not scared is happily unaware of the remote and tantalizing majesty of the medium. 

I remember one last piece of advice given me. It was during the exuberance of the rich and frantic '20s, and I was going out into that world to try and to be a writer. 

I was told, "It's going to take a long time, and you haven't got any money. Maybe it would be better if you could go to Europe." 

"Why?" I asked. 

"Because in Europe poverty is a misfortune, but in America it is shameful. I wonder whether or not you can stand the shame of being poor." 

It wasn't too long afterward that the depression came. Then everyone was poor and it was no shame anymore. And so I will never know whether or not I could have stood it. But surely my teacher was right about one thing. It took a long time - a very long time. And it is still going on, and it has never got easier. 

 She told me it wouldn't. 

--John Steinbeck, 1963

Thanks to Mrs. Webb and everyone at John F. Kennedy Middle School! You made my author visit great and I adore my gift basket!

We all want to look professional to agents and editors when they search us online and if you don't have time to keep up your blog or website, you should at least have the time to have a shiny looking profile on LinkedIn. 

LinkedIn isn't just for people who work in an office anymore. If you're a writer, I recommend you start a profile. With over 332 million users, LinkedIn is a force to be reckoned with and if you look up most agents and editors via LinkedIn, guess what? They're on it! And what do you suppose they do when they're interested in a perspective client? They Google you of course, and what's one of the main websites that pops up for finding people? You guessed it, LinkedIn. 
Okay, all that said, you might now understand that it's not only vital for your profile to be found, but it's vital that your profile looks good. Don't phone in it. Look like a pro! Below are a few simple tips to really make your profile sparkle. 


1. Have a photo--and a good one!
I have my LinkedIn profile for both my work life and my writing life. I didn't want two profiles, so one serves both purposes. That said, I need a picture that works for both, something professional, yet fun and approachable. Some may disagree, but LinkedIn is not the place for cute avatars and profile pictures of your cat instead of you. Snap a decent photo of yourself with a real camera or your laptop, not your phone if possible (as the angle usually looks weird or I can see your darn arm) and pleasesmile! Don't look like you want to hurt me or like you drive a white van with no windows. Look happy to be there! 
2. Connect with 3 new people every day!I make it a point to reach out to people in my industry every week, be it in work or writing. Doing this builds your network and builds your chances of getting noticed by someone. It's that whole six degrees of separation idea. Here's a funny thing though, if you don't have a picture, I won't connect with you. It just bugs me, you seem so anonymous, I need a face! So again, get a picture and start connecting. You never know who your connections are connected to! 

3. Write a super-star headline.
Don't just write something to the effect of, 'Nurse at Smith Hospital'. We'll see that on your job title. Be daring! Write something like, 'Inspired care giver and formidable children's writer'. Yes, you may be daunted at first writing a headline like that, but headlines like that get you noticed, and wow, you are suddenly way more interesting to me! 
5. Take full advantage of your Professional Gallery. 
LinkedIn offers a Professional Gallery to all their users. This is a fantastic vehicle for getting your work out there. Whether it's a word document showcasing your latest teaser or a full-on book trailer, this is where you can show it proudly on your profile! You can give an agent or editor something they didn't yet ask for...more of you! 

6. Ask for recommendations.
Professional or even from-the-heart recommendations from those who have worked with you are an awesome way to spread the word that you're great to work with. I don't care if it's a work related recommendation or someone from your critique group who sings your praises. Recommendations mean people enjoyworking with you. Editors and agents will be happy to see you’re not a grumpy curmudgeon who likes to tick people off if they're considering taking you on. 

7. Complete your profile!
LinkedIn is very good at recommending what you should fill out and why. Listen to them. The more you have filled out on your profile the more you'll get found. Take advantage of it. It's a great tool for showing yourself off and getting your message out there quickly for all the world of writing to see. Go one and shine, shine, shine. You deserve it!

Hope you learned a good tip or two for LinkedIn! What are some tips you might add? And yes, I will connect with you on LinkedIn if you reach out...as long as you have a picture...and even if it's of your cat. ;) 

--Hilary

 

I know. I know. Not exactly the post of the century, but hey, I'm in the middle of a new book and I'm on a roll, so the blog must suffer (more). My love for LOL Cats will never die, though, so at least you get some writer/kitty humor out of me. :)







All the best!

Hilary

Approximately 200 rejection letters sent between 2008 and 2009, when most rejections still came via snail mail. That's a lot of stamps and some serious carpal tunnel. 

My lovely agent, Marietta Zacker of Nancy Gallt, who I signed with April 2009.
  My first book contract for Nightshade City, September 2009

   Spring: 2010 My first real live editor edited manuscript. This was scary!


 Fall 2010: The first time I spotted (well, more like stalked) my book in a bookstore. Wow! 

Fall 2011: My 2nd Book 
Books published to date. 
KEEP MOVING FORWARD.

Bonjour, mes amis! I'm so lucky to get a sneak peek at the cover for Catacomb City, Tome II, which releases this June! This is the French version of The White Assassin, from Albin Michel--who have been great to work with. I'm in utter awe of this cover. The red is so incredibly striking and Billycan couldn't look more regal! The illustrator, Richard Collingridge, has really outdone himself. I think he may be a mind reader! 

I've been really lucky to have Richard and Omar Rayyan, my US illustrator, for the series. What great talent from both! Below is Omar's cover for The White Assassin. I love seeing two completely different takes on my books!  Tr��s bon!

Bonjour, mes amis! I'm so lucky to get a sneak peek at the cover for Catacomb City, Tome II, which releases this June! This is the French version of The White Assassin, from Albin Michel--who have been great to work with. I'm in utter awe of this cover. The red is so incredibly striking and Billycan couldn't look more regal! The illustrator, Richard Collingridge, has really outdone himself. I think he may be a mind reader! 

I've been really lucky to have Richard and Omar Rayyan, my US illustrator, for the series. What great talent from both! Below is Omar's cover for The White Assassin. I love seeing two completely different takes on my books!  Très bon!

 No, sorry, no ribbons, but I do have free ebooks! :)In honor of the release of Lords of Trillium and the new official Nightshade City website, my publisher, Holiday House, is giving out free ebooks of Nightshade City, Book I of the Nightshade Chronicles all through spring!  
To get your book, go to Amazon, Kobo, or Barnes & Noble and download the book that started it all (including my career) for free!  

Thanks everyone and happy spring!!!

 No, sorry, no ribbons, but I do have free ebooks! :)In honor of the release of Lords of Trillium and the new official Nightshade City website, my publisher, Holiday House, is giving out free ebooks of Nightshade City, Book I of the Nightshade Chronicles all through spring!  
To get your book, go to Amazon, Kobo, or Barnes & Noble and download the book that started it all (including my career) for free!  

Thanks everyone and happy spring!!!