Year 28 Creative Goals

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Jackie Lea Sommers posted twelve creative goals at the beginning of the year and just updated her followers on how she’s been doing on them (Spoiler: She’s killing it). Can you believe 2015 is already a quarter of the way through?

I loved her idea and that she did a visual post.

April is my birthday month, and I have a couple traditions I try to do yearly:

  1. Celebrate both our birthdays by doing something Shakespearean
  2. Visit the zoo to see the baby animals
  3. Create New Year’s Resolutions

I’m turning 27, so this will be my 28th year. Here are my creative goals:

Creative Goals 28th Year

From top left:

  1. Brainstorm 6 New Ideas—Novel, graphic novel, and picture book ideas that I haven’t already started drafting
  2. Launch Newsletter in Summer—I have so many blogs I had to create a new one just to curate what’s going on each month. When it launches, you can follow that one rather than following me on all the different platforms. Simplicity and organization!
  3. Launch YouTube Channel—I am really excited about this. Frequency of vlogs will be low as long as I have toddlers in the house, but each one will be packed full of goodness and giveaways!
  4. Vacation to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter—Captain and I were going to go for our 5th anniversary last year, but we had to cancel for his brother’s wedding. (Totally worth postponing for!) I’m really hoping we can get away this summer. We haven’t had a break in 4 years.
  5. Outline Second Graphic Novel—This is my Middle Grade novel, which I have to wait to start until I hear back on a writing grant I just applied for.
  6. Attend AWP 2015—I’ll cross this off the list next weekend! Very excited to attend. I’ll be live-tweeting my experience (@larathelark) and tweeting the advice and tips I gather (@laraedits).
  7. Tour the Awesome Indie Comic Shops of the Twin Cities—I need to network with fellow comics geeks. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do!
  8. Blog Weekly About Books—This is an eventual goal I’ll be working up to. Right now it’s monthly.
  9. Complete Graphic Novel Adaptation—I’m adapting a classic novel into a complete graphic novel to keep practicing the form.
  10. Join Comics Experience—This is a community for comics creators. Again, I have to wait to hear back from the grant before I can join (if I want it paid for)
  11. Host my First Writing Contest—Check out 70Pit, coming the first week of July!
  12. Secure Writing Time—In other words, I need to finalize a preschool for my 4-year-old and find regular, reliable part-time childcare for my toddler.

Now Accepting Summer Clients!

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I’ve been on a short sabbatical from manuscript editing to get my household ready for the big move, but I’ll be open for business again in June, with the possibility of some openings in May! I’ve been missing all my clients and am very happy to get off the bench.

Seven Reasons to Make Me Your Editor

I’m taking reservations for the following services:

Manuscript Critiques

What you need to know:

  • This type of editing fills up the fastest, so don’t delay in reserving your spot!
  • I read the entire MS or short story and give overall comments and suggestions
  • I do not make in-text comments, but may highlight sections
  • Average cost is $8 per 1,000 words (a 75K manuscript = 75 x $8 = $600)

For more information, see my services page.

Substantive Line Edits or Copyedits

What you need to know:

  • Depending on the level of editing you need, I edit on the sentence level and give thorough feedback which has been praised by established literary agents, authors, and colleagues.
  • I use track changes for objective copyediting and leave comments for anything subjective.
  • Average cost for line edits is $27 per 1,000 words (I have a $40 special for the first 2,500 words and $160 special for the first 10,000 words)
  • Average cost for copyedits is $11 per 1,000 words ($7 for experienced authors)

For more information, see my services page.

Query Letter and Synopsis Edits

What you need to know:

  • I’m nearly always available for these edits, but they are done on a first-come, first-served basis. As soon as you pay, you get put on the waiting list, and I get to you as soon as I can. (I’ll let you know if the wait times exceed 3 business days in our first email.)
  • You get unlimited passes on these, but priority for full edits goes to new clients, who will need more attention. If you have a quick question, though, I often reply the same day!
  • For examples of my editing style, see my query workshops.
  • Cost is $35 for either, $60 for both.

For more information, see my query workshops.

I list my exceptions (the genres and content I will not edit) here and mention my favorite genres and subjects here.

If you think we’d be a good fit, send me your 1,000-word sample. I’ll read your sample, give you feedback, and quote you a price. To reserve a spot, you’ll need to pay a 20% deposit or $40—whichever is greater.

The deposit is refundable if you cancel before our scheduled date. If you cancel after that, I’ll keep the deposit.

For example, say that you want the first 10,000 words of your work-in-progress professionally edited. You pay $40 and we schedule you for the first two weeks of July. If you cancel before July 1, I’ll refund your $40. If you cancel after July 1, and I haven’t begun editing, I keep the $40 for loss of business. If I edited 5,000 words before you cancelled, I’ll keep your $40 but give you feedback on the first 2,500 words. You’d then have the option of paying for any feedback beyond that, using the price-per-word quote we agreed on.

Does that make sense? If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

I look forward to reading your stories and pushing you toward publication!

Beta Readers vs. Manuscript Critiques

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MS Editor Elizabeth talks about the difference between Beta Readers and professional MS critiques. I’ll add that strangers can be Beta Readers, but it’s best to pick acquaintances—they are objective, yet you can get a hold of them IRL if they drop off the planet or steal your work (FYI, this happens way less often than writers think). I had twelve friends read my novel and give feedback anonymously using a Google form—it worked well!

Elizabeth B.'s avatarMS Editors

You just finished writing the last page of your story—congratulations! Whether you pumped out a NaNoWriMo victory or spent the last five years agonizing over your dream book, you now have a full manuscript sitting in front of you. Give yourself a pat on the back; you deserve it for making it to the end. Now what? You want to make your story better, but you’re still too close to see its weaknesses and discern whether readers would enjoy it. It’s time to get an outside opinion.

If you take your work seriously, you should show your story to someone other than your mother or best friend. Run far away from anyone who has an obligation to tell you that your story is great as is! No book will be ready for publication without major revisions, so you need to hook up with someone who can give you informed feedback…

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Friday Reads: THE CONSPIRACY OF US by Maggie Hall

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My resolution for 2015 is all about organization. That means introducing new blog series, switching some style guides, and improving reader experience! You’ll notice that “Write Lara Write” is now “Write, Edit, Repeat.” Same URL to keep things simple (writelarawrite.wordpress.com), but a new name, since this blog is about the crafts of writing and editing, not my personal writing site (which is coming…eventually).

And since it’s not just me anymore, I’m opening the blog up for guest posts! Apply here.

Friday Reads is a new series on Write, Edit, Repeat. I’ll only be blogging about my favorites (no room for negativity here), and I’ll end with a writing prompt. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already, and then you won’t miss out. Adult fiction, YA fiction, MG, graphic novels, picture books—I’ll cycle through them all, sometimes posting monthly, sometimes weekly.

For the archive of Friday Reads posts, visit bit.ly/LaraReads.

Today I’m reviewing The Conspiracy of Us, a YA romantic thriller by Maggie Hall, and one of the most highly anticipated YA reads of 2015.

First Impressions

First Impressions walks through my method of judging books by their title, cover, and cover copy before I pick up a book.

The Title

“The Conspiracy of Us” is a strange, yet evocative title (I’ll be using the word “evocative” a lot when talking about covers and titles—sorry/not sorry). The word “conspiracy” suggests the thriller genre akin to The Da Vinci Code; “us” suggests romance or a close relationship. Since this is a romantic thriller, the title is extremely effective with its word choice.

The Cover

Consp

If you couldn’t tell this was a thriller from the word “conspiracy,” you’ll get the worldwide-thriller vibe from the cover. The city overlays, the compass—travel. The skewed phantom text shadowing the title implies mystery or possibly some chase scenes.

And we’ve got the subject, a teen girl in a gorgeous ball gown. Intrigue! Mystery! Travel!

Then you look at the tagline: “An ancient puzzle. A trail of clues. An unwanted destiny.”

So basically a teen girl is part Chosen One, part Indiana Jones. If there’s remotely a connection to Indiana Jones or Han Solo, I am so there.

The Blurb

Instead of breaking down the blurb like I did with After I Do and Maybe in Another Life, we’re going to do the 69 test instead, because it was such a great representation of the book, that’s what the publisher put on the back cover:

Elisa led me to a three-way mirror, where a girl who hardly looked like me stared back in triplicate. In the silver gown, the girl looked more serious, more elegant, then they changed me into the gold dress again, and she was glamorous, striking.

I found myself hoping fiercely that my mom would let me stay for the ball, and even a little longer. Meet the Saxons, find out more about my father’s family and the rest of the Circle. To feel like I belonged in this strange, fascinating world.

“You have to choose eventually.” Elisa smiled. In the mirror, the gold sequins shimmered. But there was something about the silver. It belonged on me.

Aimee unzipped the gold dress and left me to get out of it, following Elisa downstairs to wrap the silver one. I watched it go. I couldn’t believe that, just like that, it was going to be mine.

I was about step out of the gold dress when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. “Elisa?” I said. “Aimee?” There was no answer.

In case it was one of the men come to escort me down, I zipped the dress up.

The girls were nowhere in sight, but the man who had let us in stood at the top of the staircase.

“Sorry, I’m not ready yet,” I said. I smiled at him, and he reached into his jacket pocket.

He pulled out something that, for a moment, didn’t register. It was too discordant with the marble floors, the dresses, the Bach chiming from the speakers.

It was a knife.

Read more about Maggie’s 69 Test here. And participate in #70Pit in July to share your page 69 or 70 and possibly win edits or get agent requests!

Reading

This was a fun novel to read. If you go in expecting the prophecy and Chosen One tropes (they’re implied right there on the cover), then you probably won’t expect this to be something that it’s not. What it is, is fun. And there really are similarities to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, with the Chosen One storyline like The Mummy Returns. Like those movies, there’s slow building romance (yes, please), plenty of sexual tension (all PG-13), some melodrama in parts, chase scenes, murderous bad guys, kinda murderous good guys, and adventure.

Those movies are called popcorn flicks. Not quite sure what the book equivalent is called, but keep your arms inside the vehicle and enjoy the ride.

Recommendations

If you like The Conspiracy of Us, you might like books by Ally Carter.

Writing Prompt

The main character, Avery West, is destined to be important, but she resists her destiny. Write about either 1) a time you were anxious about an outcome you knew was coming but had no power over, or 2) a time you rejected someone else’s plan for you.