How NOT to Get Published by Suzanne Young

We had the distinct honor of reading an ARC of Suzanne Young's debut, THE NAUGHTY LIST. This book is SO much fun! In fact, I think someone should make this the official book of Spring Break 2010. It’s about a group of girls who investigate and catch cheating boyfriends. Genius, right?

And because Suzanne rocks, she not only wrote a killer guest blog about her road to publication (we're getting to that, I promise), she's also given us a signed ARC of THE NAUGHTY LIST to give to one lucky reader!!! To enter just make sure you're a follower and leave a comment on this post. You've got till 7 AM EST February 4th to enter. And even if you're not the lucky winner, THE NAUGHTY LIST goes on sale tomorrow, so you can pick up your own copy. See, in LiLa land everyone wins!

And now, we give you HOW NOT TO GET PUBLISHED by Suzanne Young.

There are tons of posts about how to get published, the ins and outs, the secrets to success. But here is a guide to sure failure.*

*Disclaimer-This is my journey to publication

1. Write a book very quickly, like in a few weeks. Don’t let anyone edit it; after all, you don’t really know what editing would entail. Instead, you post chapters on a forum and ask people for advice. They tear it up. You cry. Then without making any changes, you query anyway.
2. Your query stinks. It honestly begins with something like, “Hi. My name is Suzanne Young and I wrote a book called…” You get form rejections. You’ve never seen a query before and decide to maybe look into it. You post yours on a forum and they tear it up. Again. This time you rewrite.
3. Success! An editor wants to view your first novel. Right, did I mention that you were querying editors directly? Because an agent? What—like a real estate agent? Don’t get it. You mail out full ASAP.
4. While you wait, you begin writing another book. Finish it. Then query it, all while an editor is still reviewing your first manuscript. Agents request! You’ve got this query writing nailed. In fact, you spend your free time writing fake queries.
5. Editor responds. It’s a rejection. Sort of. She says your writing is addictively readable and suggests you contact another editor that she knows. You email her over and over trying to get clarification until she stops responding.
6. Agent offer of representation! This is it, right? The end of the journey! Finally. You breathe a huge sigh of relief. Actually, since the agent knows of at least 3 editors that will love your manuscript, you don’t worry about the other two who still have it and are considering.
7. Editor emails to say that your agent submitted your manuscript to another editor at the house. She’s not happy. You feel bad. They reject.
8. The holidays hit. The world is silent. You start writing. Each month you send your agent a new manuscript. In fact, you send her five. In six months.
9. An editor that you really like isn’t answering your agent. But you know that he’ll love your latest novel. You ask her to send to him, but she says it’s not ready. You email him directly and ask if he wants to see it. He says yes.
10. Your agent drops you.
11. You give up on writing for about two weeks before you start revenge-querying editors. Within the week, you have a call of interest.
12. An agent reads your blog and emails to offer you representation. From reading your blog. You tell her you’re not really interested.
13. Another editor is interested. That’s two! And now you realize that you might just need that agent. You accept her offer and sub wider.
14. You get three offers and sell a multiple book contract to Razorbill.
15. You dance like a fool like this

Huge thanks to Lisa and Laura for letting me guest blog! This blog is seriously one of the coolest ones around! I’m totally honored!!!

BTW, The Naughty List comes out TOMORROW! It’s about a group of girls who investigate and catch cheating boyfriends. Wish they had some of those when I was in high school.

XOXO,

Suzanne Young