NaNoSubMo

Oops! I did it again! I started looking at submitting last year and then I got caught up in my
manuscripts again. I’m not going to lie--I submitted once this past year. Submissions just
feel like they’re taking away from my creativity, so I just write. I write and write and edit and
critique. I’ve got a great group of writers that support me and help me become better. I am
learning so much and producing so many great things. I just need to submit them. Really,
truly. So here is my commitment, yet again, which I will stick to: 

Instead of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month: 50,000 words written on a new novel
in one month), I’m doing NaNoSubMo (National Novel Submission Month: 60 submissions
for various works put out to agents in one month). I will also be writing articles for my blog
and critiquing fellow writers’ manuscripts.

In June I was able to attend Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers (WIFYR) in Sandy,
UT. I don’t know if you notice a blog post trend here, but it always boosts my enthusiasm for
blogging. Anyway, Kristyn Crow taught a Morning Workshop on Picture Books and it seriously
blew my mind. 

I have been actively learning about writing since college (I won’t give away my age with that
one), and in this one class I learned more about my craft than all of the years previous.
Granted, I write Middle Grade Fantasy as well, but Picture Books have always been this
elusive concept that I haven’t really understood until this class. I thought I understood, but
after attending her class, I realized that I didn’t--not really. I HIGHLY suggest attending
anything that she teaches, because she knows her stuff. And not only that, she knows how
to TEACH and encourage, which I’ve realized are the most important parts of it all.

Each day, her lessons were more and more amazing, but the one I’m finding most useful right
now, was her class on publishing. She answered questions, taught us how to self-edit, told us
that we need a good critique group, taught us how to learn the market (which is basically:
study what’s on the shelves at bookshelves and what are the ALA awards winners and
Amazon Bestsellers), and most importantly how to look up agents to represent different
genres. She suggested two ways to search for agents: 

1. Literary Marketplace (LMP): a free online resource for writers, which has all of the
information and more on how to get published and which agents are best for your genre.
This site is super useful, though a little tedious with the multiple links and the constant
nagging to put your name and email address into their system--which I did twice before
I realized they tell you to do that on every page.

2. Agentquery.com: Helps you find out about the agents. Visit their websites. Choose one or several

who represent work similar to yours.

I am proud to say that since the beginning of November I have tripled last year’s attempts at
submissions (yes, that’s three for those of you that question your math skills as much as I do).
All of which are for a picture book that I’ve been working on since February. I haven’t queried my novel
yet. I was going to. I really was. But when I got to the submission form I realized I wasn't ready. I
hadn’t written a synopsis of my story yet. Advice from a friend was to read Save the Cat Writes a
Novel, which has great advice on query letters and synopses. So that is my next step. How are you
doing in your trail to publication? Would you like to join in my #NaNoSubMo? Let’s do this together!
I’d love to hear about your journey as well.