Wednesday, February 3, 2010

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

56 comments:

Emily J. Griffin said...

Suzanne, your candidness is ALWAYS admired. Can't wait to read TNL!

Congrats on your backasswards road success ; )

Unknown said...

Suzanne I can't wait to read your book! I would love a signed copy so I hope I win, but if I don't I plan on purchasing a copy anyway! You are fantastic! Yay for guest blogging!!!

Shelby said...

LOVE the dog (or is it a cat) tail wagging in the background to the right.. SUPER DUPER.. loved this!!

Stina said...

Super funny interview!

The book's already out in Canada, but being out and being in the bookstores are two different things. :( Can't wait to read it!

Alissa Grosso said...

Hilarious post. What an awesome story! Oh, and I read the end as you wished that there were cheating boyfriends when you were in high school which also made me laugh out loud, but then I realized you probably meant that you wished there was a group of girls catching the cheaters!

Kerri Cuev said...

Hi Suzanne!
My gosh you are funny! Love the post! Morning giggles-check. Coffee-almost there.
Book looks awesome!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post! Very witty! What a great story you have:)

Caroline Starr Rose said...

Love reading other's stories. Congrats!

Heather said...

What an amazing story! Everyone's road to publication is different, but this one seems truly unique!

Unknown said...

Oh, I can't wait to read TNL!

And I think there are nailmarks in my table after reading this post. Oh, the rulebreaking! It just goes to show, good writing trumps all.

Ash. Elizabeth said...

haha! i love the video.

Frankie Diane Mallis said...

OMG that was too cool and I love the vlog!

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

hahahaha the video is just the icing on the cake...brilliant post! :)

Paul Greci said...

Great story, Suzanne!!
Have a great day tomorrow!!

Unknown said...

Holy cow! What a journey! Congrats! Enjoy your big day tomorrow!

storyqueen said...

Suzanne, I love your post!! It's always good to hear other writer's publishing stories and yours is one of the best.

I think I'm going to have to make up a fake publishing story...mine is dull.

Natalie said...

That is CRAZY. What an unusual road to publication. And the Naughty List sounds fun! I hope it does extremely well. :)

Tamika: said...

Loved this post! Your energy matches LiLa for sure, great mesh.

Congratulations on your success, persistance is key. And writing tons- Wow!

Christina Lee said...

WOWEE what a story!! Love the honesty! Looking forward to reading your book!

Kim said...

What a hoot! I can only imagine how great this book is.

And, that dance at the end was the best. The wagging tail made it!

Congratulations, Suzanne!

Anissa said...

You totally rocked the Happy Dance! Right on!

Congrats on finding your way, even if it was unconventional.

Carolyn V. said...

Haa haa! I love it. You go Suzanne! Congrats on your book. I can't wait to read it. =)

Shannon O'Donnell said...

LOL! I loved this post, and I can't wait to read your book. Congratulations! :-)

erica m. chapman said...

Great post Suzanne - thank you for sharing your road to publication! Thanks LiLa for having her on here - I agree this blog is one of the coolest around ;o)

Totally want to read that book. What a great premise!

Keri Mikulski said...

Love Suzanne!! ;)

Elana Johnson said...

What a fun list of what not to do! Congrats on the book Suzanne. (Thanks LiLa!)

Carrie Harris said...

I laughed SO HARD at this.

Dara said...

LOL, that was great!

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Hahaha! Very good. Definitely makes me WANT. THIS. BOOK!

Summer Frey said...

Perfect! Now to just print that out...

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

yay suz! cant wait - so happy for you!

Sarah Wylie said...

Awesome post!! And, um, pick me! Pick me! I want to win the Naughty List! *waves* It sounds fabulous.

Unknown said...

What a fun post to read! I look forward to reading The Naughty List; I know it'll be a huge success!

Melissa Sarno said...

That's hilarious! I especially like the happy dance. I think I saw a dog or cat's tail bopping up and down in the background too. haha.

Marsha Sigman said...

I actually gasped in horror and shame on Suzanne's behalf at that story.

And then the awesome dancing totally made up for it all.lol

I totally plan on doing a dance vlog when I receive a book deal. And there will be much hair swinging/flipping...cause all real rockers do that.

Rebecca Knight said...

Holy Cows! This just proves even more that if you have it in you--you'll make it!

Can't wait to read the book :). Thank you for sharing your story with us!

Jackee said...

She is so funny. If her book is anything like her, I'll die from laughing.

Unknown said...

Haha--love the process!!

I'll definitely have to pick this book up. I bought and read Some Girls Are after your recommendation, and it was great.

Tana said...

What a great concept for a YA novel! I wish I had caught my HS boyfriend cheating. He did it more than once. Can you say serious loser??

Unknown said...

I loved the post. The Naughty List seems like a fun story.

Jemi Fraser said...

Love it! Can I have some of your energy, btw? I can't believe you wrote 5 books in 6 months!!!

bryna said...

love this!

Lori W. said...

Wow, what a wild story. Totally appreciated your honesty and can't wait to read TNL!

Mariah Irvin said...

I love the dancing, and your story! Can't wait to read your book!

Kristy said...

I love that even the dog is dancing!

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Very fun post....Congratulations on the book release tomorrow. :)

Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...

Great list, what an adventure! I'd love to enter the contest, I've been hearing great things about this book :) Thanks!!

Kimberly Franklin said...

OMG...I loved this guest blog. I mean LOVED it! ; )

Jemi Fraser said...

Ooops - forgot to tell you I have an award for you over at my blog :)

Unknown said...

how does someone have that many ideas to write? wow! I would probably follow her advice of what not to do to a tee! Great funny read! Perfect and high energy, as usual!

JESSJORDAN said...

Dear Suzanne,

I didn't realize how crazy you are. I love crazy.

Dance on, girlie.

Melissa Hurst said...

Oh, this is too funny! Can't wait to read your book Suzanne! And yours too Lisa and Laura:)

Linda Henderson said...

The Naughty List sounds like a book not to miss. I love the concept behind the book. Back in the day when I was in school we always used to help out our friends with their boyfriends. After all, girls & women should stick together.

seriousreader at live dot com

Anonymous said...

Blogs can lead to book deals?

I KNEW I was blogging wrong.

(Great guest post.)

Jeni said...

I know I'm too late to enter -- I just wanted to say that I loved Suzanne's story about her journey to publication (it made me feel better about mine, too). Thanks so much for your candidness! Happy release day!

Anonymous said...

Wow, indeed interesting topic. How can I find that RSS?

Mary Karver
bug detector spy

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