Leigh Mar @booktivities - Tumblr Blog

Hello, Pitch Warriors!

I’m Leigh Mar and I am beyond thrilled to be a Pitch Wars mentor again this year!

Like, really...

really....

really...

EXCITED!!!!

About Me: I write YA that usually feels contemporary, but often has a speculative twist tossed in. I am a marketing and communications professional by day, and a young adult author by night (sometimes way too late into the night). I’ve been on both sides of Pitch Wars fence as a mentee in 2015, and a mentor in 2016 (I co-mentored with Sarah Nicolas last year!). I signed with Elana Roth Parker at Laura Dail Literary Agency shortly after the 2015 agent round and have also been a literary agent intern, a mentor in the inaugural #TeenPit this spring (my mentee won!), and am the Events Director for Pitch Wars Webinars. Straight up Hufflepuff.

You can find me on Twitter @LeighMar_ (chat with me anytime!).

What will I do for you as a mentor?

We’ll start with an edit letter tackling any big picture things (plot issues, structural issues, character arc issues, if we blow anything up, this is where we’ll do it). Once we conquer the big stuff, I’ll do in-line edits and notes addressing all the nitty-gritty things that will take your MS to the next level. And of course, I’ve got your back when it comes to the pitch and query letter too (I love queries).

My greatest strength is character development. I’m also strong when it comes to dialogue, moments of emotional impact, setting up/timing important reveals (TWISTS!!!), as well as overall story structure and plot. I do a mean (but friendly!) in-line edit and will catch places where pacing may lag, things that feel repetitious, inconsistencies, and find opportunities where small adjustments can make big differences.

Now, what you’ve been waiting for... THE WISHLIST

I am mentoring YOUNG ADULT again this year.

I’m looking for...

Speculative fiction (I lean sci-fi over fantasy, but love anything with a strong hook and great characters)

Contemporary (Again--strong hooks and great characters!)

Mysteries, thrillers and light horror (keep it more psychological than physical, not so into excessive violence and gore--violence for logical plot reasons is fine though).

Retellings and reimaginings (Any genre! Especially lesser-known stories or really fresh takes on a classic)

Historical with a twist (alternate histories, speculative elements)

Give me realistic, complicated characters. Give me stubborn girls and guys whose pride gets in the way of their happiness. Give me space operas and “omg this could totally happen” sci-fi. Give me your anti-heroes and anti-heroines. Give me bittersweet endings. Give me books that make me laugh and make me cry. If you have a plot twist that will make me gasp out loud GIVE IT TO ME!!! I don’t need a love story in my YA, but I do appreciate a good one (main plot, sub plot, star-crossed, unrequited, rom-com, epic, disastrous, complicated, new, sweet, passionate, doomed, slow burn, what have you--just not into insta love for no reason). I am a total sucker for Slytherins and Hufflepuffs in love. <3

I want to see diverse casts, LGBTQ+ characters, and characters with disabilities--with great representation--in my inbox!

I’m not the best mentor for...

High fantasy with super complex worlds and magic systems (**Update** I’ve gotten a few questions about this one, by “high fantasy” I mean things like GAME OF THRONES where I'd need a map and a glossary and a character reference list with family trees to keep up. My level of YA fantasy is more like: RED QUEEN, THE WRATH AND THE DAWN, AN EMBER IN THE ASHES, DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE series, SHADOW AND BONE series)

Super literary projects

Christian fiction

Books with a heavy focus on dreams/dreaming (I have a WIP with related elements and want to keep my head space clear)

Stories that center around organ transplants/donations (I’m sure you’ve got a great one! It’s just not my thing).

What else do I like?

Here are a few of my favorite things to help you pin down my tastes! BOOKS (And yes, there’re some adult titles in here. Give me YA with these vibes!)

Are you ready?

If you want a mentor who will challenge you, but cheer you on. Who will be honest, but won’t force a specific solution on you. Who will be available, but won’t make you to talk on the phone if you don’t want to* ;) and who will overuse exclamation points, all caps, emojis, and gifs to convey enthusiasm... (!!!!!!!)

*I have a flexible communication style (email, text, Skype, whatever works for you as long as we communicate!). So if your MS sounds like a match for my wishlist and you’re not afraid of hard work, open to constructive criticism, and ready to think both critically and creatively about your work, sub to me on August 2nd!

Carry On...

Best of luck, Pitch Warriors!!! You can keep blog hoping HERE! If you’re hella confused, you can learn more about Pitch Wars HERE!

Questions? My Ask Me Anything box here is open or catch me on Twitter! **Update** I’ve started an AMA thread on the Pitch Wars forum, feel free to, well, ask me anything there as well. :)

And future mentee, I can’t wait to meet....

am-editing

negativereader

This is basically what a first draft is.

Writing Process:

First Drafts be like:

Revisions be like:

#gif city #Booktivities

When ARCs of a book you NEED start showing up on social

#gif city #Booktivities

When someone has an opinion on a book they haven’t read

#gif city #Booktivities

When your book club doesn’t want to read YA

#gif city #Booktivities

Exiting the bookstore with something you’re excited about, like...

Basically, querying

Showing up to work Monday when I’d rather be reading

Person: I read a lot. Last year, I read ten books. Me:

#Gif City #Booktivities

When my TBR pile starts getting a little dark

#gif city #Booktivities

askauthors

How do you pick names for your characters?

Names are sometimes tricky! It can hamper us from moving forward or give us a sleepless night. Here are some tips and resources for picking names, and some advice for what to do if you can’t think of a name but want to keep writing!

Jessica Bloczynski: I look up the top hundred names for the year my character was born and go from there.

Monica Hoffman: I use the name generator in Scrivener and also a fantasy name generator online. I think I’ve even used the cool baby names website from time to time.

Becky Dean; I like babynames.com. You can search by first letter, number of syllables, origin, and meaning.

Jenny Ferguson: This. Pretty much 6-8 hours of ms planning time is spent here.

Leigh Mar: Picking names is hard. Though… a name (and nickname) were the inspiration for the MS that got me into Pitch Wars and got me my agent. I borrow a lot of last names from walks in Arlington National Cemetery, which I live very close to. I recently started a spreadsheet to track all the first and last names I use so that I don’t accidentally re-use the same names in every project (after realizing… I was pretty much doing that).

Jamie Pacton: I often go through old books of mythology and look at articles in National Geographic for names relevant to wherever I’m writing.

Kristen Lepionka: As I am starting a project, characters will usually tell me their names. I also tend to “collect” names from random places like movie credits, magazine mastheads, company-wide email lists, and so on. That last one may sound creepy, but I promise it isn’t.

Kyle W. Kerr: The same for me on both counts! Most of the time names come to me at the same time as I think if the character. And I also have a list of unusual names (you want to talk creepy? I’ve gotten names off gravestones!). In the rare occasion the perfect name isn’t immediately there, I usually have a first letter, or maybe a SOUND of how I want the name to be, and I’ll turn to a name origin website and scroll through. But that’s on the rarer side.

Kristen Lepionka: I’m big on “sound” too….especially when I have a whole novel full of people already and I introduce a new character, I’ll be like “I want something that sounds like ________, but it can’t be that exactly, because it’s too similar to another character name I already have.” Negotiations with characters over their names is sometimes required!

Priscilla Mizell: Last names are often in the family or borrowed from someone I knew. The names of the brother and sister in my current WIP are what mine would have been if I were a boy (John) and what my brother’s would have been if he were a girl (Elizabeth). The parents have my parents’ middle names as their firsts. Granddad has the name my grandfather wished he had (Nick).

Jenn Brisendine: Shakespeare, the Bible, classic works, myth. Names weighted with meaning and allusion.

Heidi Stallman: I look up names online that were popular around the time my character was born. Sometimes names come from movies, TV, friends, mythology, history, etc. I also like to give some of my characters names that are important to me or my family, or I name characters after writers and artists I admire. One good piece of advice I got a while back is that that some of your characters should have strong, classic names like Steve, Sarah, John or Ann. Not everyone in your book should have a romantic or amazing name or the ones that do won’t seem special.

Rebecca McLaughlin: If you can’t pick a name, don’t let it stop you from writing. Use a unique placeholder name like MC1 or ThisGuy. I went through draft 1 of TNQ with “CityName”. That way, when you pick a name later, you can do a global find/replace. On the philosophy side, a name is one of the first things we learn about a character, but it isn’t the end-all be-all of who that character is, so don’t let it be a source of assures—let it be fun! Also, keep in mind that if you name a character after a person, that person might instantly assume you’ve stolen their life and put them in a book (which is never the case), so beware before stealing from close by.

Becky Dean: I do this a lot, especially for side characters!

M. K. England: Names are hard. Generally I have some vague sense of what I want, and I’ll start with a letter. “This character feels like a two-syllable K name”. From there I’ll search baby name websites that specialize in that character’s particular cultural background until I find a name meaning that suits the character (which I know no one will ever care about but me). Last names are often whatever is in the top 25 most common names for that culture that sounds good with the first name I’ve chosen. Then I’ll google the full name to see if there are any prominent figures/characters who already have the name. If I get random everyday people’s Facebook profiles instead, it’s a win: I’ve chosen a realistic name. I also occasionally borrow names from the teens I work with in the library, especially when writing outside my own culture.That said, I’ve changed character names in revisions a dozen times. Pick a temporary name for main characters and go with it so it doesn’t slow you down. For side characters, call them @NAME and be done with it. You can ctrl+F the @ symbol later to catch them all. [Great tip here, guys!]

Emily Ungar: I know this sounds weird, but the names just kind of pop into my head. But I do change some of them later on.

M. C. Vaughan: Main characters are usually a symbolic thing for whatever theme I’m shooting for. As for the secondary characters, well, this will sound super-grim, but HERE IT GOES—when we cleaned out my parents & grandparents’ homes they had bunches of funeral cards stuffed into desk drawers, caches of stationery, memory boxes… It felt weird to throw them out. So, I kept them. And I steal character names from them.

Michael Mammay: I write a lot of Sci Fi, but it’s also military. So I tend to use last names more than first, as soldiers do. Then I try to space my names across a wide variety of cultures, because I want to give my world the feel of a real world. Without ever describing people, I think it gives an impression of a multi-cultural conglomeration.

booktivities

Name Game!

askauthors

How do you know when your MS is ready to query? Like, reallllly actually ready?

This is a great and complicated question. But we have some great (and hopefully simplified) answers for you!

Jessica Bloczynski: Short answer: you don’t. It’s really easy to convince yourself it’s done. Your CPs and betas can say so too, but even they can be wrong. You can want it too much and then jump the gun on something that isn’t ready. My advice, if you feel it’s ready, set it aside for a month or two and come back to it with fresh eyes. If it still feels ready with time and distance then maybe it is.

Sean Grigsby: When I finally say, “F*** it.”

Jessica Bloczynski: Basically this.

Jenny Ferguson: Is it the best you can make it? Have you improved your skills? Have you let it sit? Have other (critical) eyes seen it? Do you still like it? Do you feel like you can’t do any better? Have you researched agents? Are you ready for rejection?Start with these questions. Ask some more. When you’re satisfied, query.

Leigh Mar: This! And when you are ready, don’t forget to get fresh eyes on your query as well. Someone who has not read your MS and can poke holes in anything that’s unclear without previous knowledge of the story.

Rebecca McLaughlin: Agreed. It’s absolutely vital to have someone read the query who hasn’t read your story, because that’s the boat all of the agents are in. And have them read your first pages too.

Rebecca McLaughlin: In my experience (and most experience of writers I know), everyone queries too soon, either before they’re ready or before the project is ready. The best advice I can give is that if you’re querying agents in your genre/category, query in small bunches at first, and if you don’t get ANY interest, revisit the query and revisit the opening pages. Optimistically, you want to be in a place where you’re getting a decent number of partials/full requests, which means your pitch is working, and now you’re just looking for the right fit. Basically, just be prepared to have queried too soon. It’s sort of something you can only fix in retrospect. The good news is that you’re asking this question, which probably means you aren’t just diving headfirst. Take some time, make sure you do good work.

Kat Hinkel: Put me down as seconding Rebecca’s answer! Take your time, and only query a few at a time…

Heather Murphy Capps: You’ve had at least 3-4 beta or CP reads. You’ve let it sit at least 3 times and found important revisions after each sit. You’ve searched for and eliminated filter words. You’ve checked your pacing with your strongest pace readers and also possibly used a spread sheet (like in Larry Brooks’s Story Engineering) to be sure your milestone markers are well placed. You’ve ensured each chapter has a goal, no matter how small. Your gut tells you it’s time.

Cindy Baldwin: With my last one, I knew it was when two betas sent it back with basically no feedback whatsoever. That said, I queried my last book too early and ended up really grateful for the things I learned along the way. I’m a perfectionist and perpetual reviser, so at a certain point I just have to stop. Once I’ve hit the point where I can’t think of anything that would make it stronger - just things that will make it different.

Joan He: Honestly, I never knew. OK scratch that, I probably did know that I queried too early, but only deep down, and I never would have admitted it unless in hindsight (and this is for all three books that I queried). Like others have said, admit that you might query too early regardless of everything, and do so in small batches so that you don’t burn all your bridges.

Heidi Stallman: So many writers finish a manuscript (or finish a second or third round of revisions) and then immediately start to query it. This works for some who have lots a really good CPs, but for most of us it’s not a good idea. My best advice is to set it aside for a month or two, while you work on something else and maybe study craft a bit and then re-read it. If you only find minor nit-picky things to change, then it’s probably ready for a query trial run. Send it to about 10 agents who respond quickly and to most queries. If you’re getting requests then you know your query and opening are solid. If you aren’t, then you definitely queried too early and it’s time to dig into revisions again. On my Pitch Wars manuscript, I followed this advice and came away puzzled by only one request out of ten and a quick rejection to my submission. I set the manuscript away for a year, revised it again, then entered PW instead of querying. Then after another set of revisions with my mentor I sent it out again. So I thought I was ready and it turned out I wasn’t. The good news is I knew enough to stop and work on other projects, work on craft and find help in the revision process. And now I have an agent from a project I started to query too early two years ago.

M. C. Vaughan: When you type “The End,” let it sit, reread, and don’t feel the urge to fiddle with every other word.

Amanda Rawson Hill: When you either come to the point where you know this is the best work you can produce at this moment of time and you feel proud of it and your beta readers and CP’s only have very minimal comments to address. Or, if you are a perfectionist like me and never totally satisfied with your work, when you realize it’s time to move on and continue to learn your craft with another story.

Kyle W. Kerr: When you feel that there’s nothing else you can do with it. You’ve done several rounds of edits yourself, giving some time and space between each one to come back at it from a fresh perspective. And you’ve also had some people you trust read it and give you honest feedback (remember, even if you don’t agree with what they’re saying, or their suggested solutions, try to find the core of the issue they’re having and try to fix it as best you can in your own way). After all that, you sit back and you can’t think of one more thing to do, then go ahead and query. You only have one shot to make an impression, so this book has to be as polished as you can make it. Finish a draft and know there are issues, and just figure your new agent and editor will tell you what’s wrong and how to fix it? NOPE. Agents get so many queries that they’re looking for reasons to say no (as well as reasons to say yes). So you need to do everything you can to tip the scales in your direction. Don’t make the mistake of sending out queries before the book is ready.

Michael Mammay: This is a complicated question. First off, I’ve heard hundreds of people say ‘I queried too early.’ I’ve never once heard anyone say ‘I queried too late.’ So the simple answer is, probably later than you think. You want to go into the world with your best work. If you haven’t let it sit for a month and gone back and re-looked at it, you probably don’t have your best work. The best thing that happened to me in Pitch Wars was that I had a book that I thought was ready to query. And two months when I couldn’t query it. I made it better in those two months.

#writer in progress

laurendestefano-deactivated2017

my default character trait is discovering things years after they were huge and becoming obsessed with them after everyone is tired of them

askauthors

Is it ok to approach authors you like to ask if they're willing to be a beta reader or critique partner? I don't know how to find people to help me with my story

The overwhelming answer for this is No. In an upcoming post, we’ll discuss how to find a CP/beta reader. For now, let’s discuss the reasons (and the exceptions!) for why you probably shouldn’t reach out to published authors for CP/beta relationships:

Steph O'Neil: This is generally frowned on, but stranger things have happened. I would check the author’s website. A lot of them have an explanation as to why they can’t read a stranger’s work. Scalzi has a great post about it called “what to know before you ask me to read your (unpublished) work”.

Jim O'Donnell: No. Don’t do that. Don’t do this with established authors. Asking Stephen King to beta your zombie book is a bad idea.

Tracy Gold: Some authors offer paid editing services and have it listed on their website. That’s okay. If they don’t have that, and you ask anyway, it puts the author in the bad position of being a really nice person and having to probably say no. You’re better off looking for a partner via an association like SCBWI, a continuing education class, or by engaging in writing communities in Twitter. Contest hashtags can be a great place to look for CPs!

Kyle W. Kerr: If you are in the same position as them, then yes. I am currently unpublished, so would never ask a published author to beta for me. But I would ask—and have been asked—to beta by/from authors I have gotten to know online who are also not published. I also have some published friends who have been approached by other published authors to beta/critique and that had been fine and worked out. But it’s a huge liability for a published author to read someone who is unpublished, in case that person decides to say the author stole their idea/theme/voice/character/etc.

Rebecca McLaughlin: The biggest trick of finding a beta reader or CP is to be at similar developmental levels. A CP relationship is built on mutual assistance. Writers offer each other advice and critiques, and they both improve together. The biggest reasons not to reach out to a published author are 1.) they probably already have CPs, 2.) they are likely very very busy, 2.) they are much farther along in their career and have a different focus with their writing than someone who is still on the path toward publishing, and 3.) you’d probably come of a little stalker-y. That isn’t to say it’s impossible, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Instead, reach out to friends and family to be front-line beta readers, and search online writing communities to find a place you feel comfortable in.

Mike Mammay: It’s okay if you know the person. I’d draw the line somewhere around ‘knowing them enough where you exchange direct messages on a regular basis.’ Even then, I’d only ask politely, and with an expectation of no. With that said, I think you should be open to it if it happens. If the author offers, it’s 100% fine to say yes. Also, I recently hooked up a published author with two unpublished authors. In this case, the published author needed readers from a new genre, and was willing to read for them in return. And the two unpublished readers were extremely high quality writers.

Julie Artz: I agree with Mike. Some of my CPs are published/agented even though I am not yet either. So it’s not uncommon. But I wouldn’t recommend approaching someone who is published solely for the purpose of asking them to read for you.

Amanda Rawson Hill: No. Beta reading and CPing should be mutually agreed upon. Put out a call on a forum or Twitter and see who offers.

Lyndsay Ely: In the words of Lana Kane: “NOOOOOOOPPPPE!” This sounds akin to slipping an agent your manuscript in the bathroom or something.

Sarah Madsen: Most authors have some sort of statement on their FB/Blog/Site/Whatever that basically says “I’m sorry, I can’t for legal reasons.” Better to find people at the same part of the process as you. Look for local writing groups or put out a call on Twitter for CPs.

Timanda Wertz: Definitely don’t do this. It puts authors in a very awkward spot. Try the SCBWI boards, Twitter, etc. to find CPs and beta readers. If you feel you’re to the point you need a more professional eye, there are options. Some authors periodically offer first page and/or query critiques on their blogs. You could also sign up for a critique at a writing conference or apply to Pitch Wars!

Heidi Stallman: If you are a beginner, definitely not. Authors want CPs and beta readers who are mutually beneficial and you put them in a really awkward position by asking. If you have gotten an R&R from an agent or have won/placed in some contests and have good critiquing skills and are so close to taking that next step into having an agent and publishing, then you may have something to offer a published or “almost published” author in return. Still, it would be better to find critique partners through contests or conferences, and if one of those happens to be a published author that you respect, great.

Isabel Davis: I wouldn’t do this, no. Find your peer and start there. If you have a relationship with that author, maybe, but only if they are open to it OR they offer first!

Jessica Bloczynski: I’ve read for a few folks with one book out and they’ve read for me, but I never would have approached them as a newbie. In all those cases either it was someone I had a long standing CP relationship with where they’re just a few steps ahead of me or they approached me to read for them. As for finding CPs, I found mine in a NaNoWriMo Facebook group, and then she found a friend on Twitter and pushed us at each other. In both cases, we were all on approximately the same level of development craft wise. At this point, I’m very hesitant to critique for new writers. There’s rarely a lot they can offer me in terms of equitable exchange and it just takes a lot of time to critique something that isn’t ready. Time that could be spent on my own work.

Ashley Martin: Only if you’ve already developed a relationship with them. And by relationship I don’t mean they retweeted you once. :) The best thing to do is find other writers who are at a similar experience level and ask them if they’re willing to CP and beta, while building relationships with authors who are more experienced. I do think it’s important to have mentors who are one or two steps ahead, because there is so much to learn from them. But start small. Ask craft questions, get to know them, support their work and see if a connection forms before approaching them to partner. And be aware that if you’ve got your sights set on becoming JK Rowling’s BFF and CP… it’s probably not going to happen. ;)

Brian Palmer: I would say no unless you have built up some sort of relationship with them, and even then, don’t automatically assume they will agree to do it. They’re busy people, just like you are, and if they agreed to read the work of every stranger who asked them then they would never get any work done. Get yourself connected to other writers who are at a similar experience level as you, maybe even try to find other writers who specifically write in genres you love/are familiar with/write in so that you can build a connection that way!

M. K. England: Definitely not. In fact, many authors have disclaimers on their websites specifically saying they can’t. Most, by the time they’re at that level, already have an established set of CPs and can’t commit to more. Start with people who are at the same place as you with their writing and grow together. As you progress, you should definitely try to seek out some CPs who are better than you, who can kick your ass. It’s not just published-or-nothing. Get to know people who have had some luck querying, or who have an agent but aren’t published. There are many stages to this game.Regardless of how you meet your CPs, the best idea is to start off low-key. Exchange a chapter or three with the caveat that either of you can say “Thanks but no thanks, not the right fit for me” after reading the sample with no hard feelings. Critique Partnerships are a major time commitment, and just like with agents, you want to make sure you find the right person who can be passionate about your work. Good luck!

Leigh Mar: If by “authors you like” you mean authors in a similar place to you career wise that you’ve come across on Twitter or other forums and just think are cool people—absolutely! Reach out, introduce yourself, see if they’re looking for CPs too (remember, it’s a back and forth!). If by “authors you like” you mean NYT bestsellers or published authors further along in their career… they probably already have a support system in place that helped get them where they are today. I wouldn’t ask them to read for you, but I’m sure they’d love for you to reach out just to let them know you like their books!

mcrebecky

Ask Authors Questions

A New Writer’s Resource Ever wanted to know that you’re not alone as a writer? Ever wondered if other writers have weird rituals before they write? Where do writers find their Critique Partners? Today marks the launch of the Ask Authors Tumblr blog, where over 100 writers participate in answering a big question each week. And they answer smaller questions submitted by visitors all the time! Ask…

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