More Author Insight: Publishing Industry Notes ( and the giveaway winner!)

What notes have you taken from the publishing industry recently in hopes of reaching a broader audience and/or increasing your longevity as an author?

"You asked this same thing ten questions ago: successful authors diversify. Unless your plan is to write a single massive blockbuster series that never goes out of print and attracts perpetual attention for the rest of your life, you ned to keep writing and innovating and trying new things and testing new markets. Which isn't really a bad thing, because writing is what got you into this business in the first place, right? Turns out you get to do way more of it than you thought, in all kinds of cool little niches and venues and styles. I find it invigorating." - Dan Wells, author of Fragments. 

"I’ve actually taken fewer notes than I did when I first started trying to get published. For me, being away from the industry can be extremely rejuvenating. I think that plays a big role in how I write. So many smarter authors than me have said you have to live in order to write, and I’m taking that to heart lately. As far as I’ve seen, it’s excellent advice." - Natalie Whipple, author of Transparent. 

"That longevity as an author doesn’t stem from large numbers of friends or followers on online social media sites. It comes from sitting down every day to write, turning projects in to your agent or editor, and never giving up." - Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed. 

"I actually take away notes that might say kind of the opposite. There is no failsafe. There is no magic thing we can do. What may work for one book and one author may not work for me, and in fact everyone in the industry is often guessing as to what will grow an audience and increase a writer’s longevity in this business. I’m not saying I don’t welcome the advice of the professionals. My ears are open, and I listen. But at the end of the day, I do only what feels genuine to me. I write the books I want to write. And we’ll see." - Nova Ren Suma, author of 17 & Gone.

Author Insight: Publishing Industry Notes

What notes have you taken from the publishing industry recently in hopes of reaching a broader audience and/or increasing your longevity as an author?

"Social media, all the time. I don’t enjoy it, but there is simply no way around having a robust social media presence." - Bill Konigsberg, author of Openly Straight. 

"It's the advice that everyone told me when I first started out, that I smiled and nodded at, and then disregarded. And that is to focus on my next book. That's really all I can do. Publicity, marketing, that's in the hands of my publishers. What I can do--what I have total control over--is writing my next book. And that's what I have learned to focus on." - Aprilynne Pike, author of Life After Theft and Earthbound.

"Given the crossover appeal of YA these days, it seems that readers are more accepting of an author bouncing from children’s literature to adult and back again. I’d like to do that." - Lex Hrabe , co-author of Quarantine: The Loners. 

"It's all about marketing. I read everything I can on it. An author’s job is 50% brand management, and every day publishers are putting more of that job into our hands. It’s not glamorous, but it is what it is." - Victoria Scott, author of The Collector.

More Author Insight: A Writer's Research (and the big giveaway!)

Do you approach research physically or virtually? Have you ever overlooked one of your findings to make a story work?

"Research is one of my favorite parts of writing, and I do it physically, virtually, and every other way you can think of. I just finished a book about cloning, and after some research and interviews found a way that my style of cloning would actually work...and then didn't use it, because it wasn't as flashy as I wanted it to be." - Dan Wells, author of Fragments. 

"Both. I bought some goldfish for my last novel, so I would know how to care for them. Sadly, I killed two before I got the hang of it. I’m big on food, and I always describe things I’ve actually eaten and enjoyed. I’ve set most of my contemporary novels in places I’ve actually been/lived.

But I also do a lot of research online. I live on Google Maps when writing in a real place. There’s always something you need to learn about as a writer, whether it be ninjas or the Cold War or the types of trees that grow in certain parts of the country." - Natalie Whipple, author of Transparent. 

"Mostly, I research virtually or through books. I did take a trip to Paris last fall though to research in person and it was so valuable. I have my limits to what I’ll overlook in order to make something in my story work. If it’s small enough, I don’t feel too guilty about smudging historical facts." - Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed. 

"I research and then let go. For me, the story comes first and if I have to squash and rearrange the truth a little, well, so be it. (I think it helps that my books often have a fantastical bent, so there’s always some excuse I can invent to service the story.) I do most of my story research online, but there is something so romantic and authorly about going to the Main Reading Room at the New York Public Library with the lions out front and paging through a rare book not allowed outside the building. I want to do more of that.." - Nova Ren Suma, author of 17 & Gone.

Author Insight: A Writer's Research

Do you approach research physically or virtually? Have you ever overlooked one of your findings to make a story work?

"Facts are facts. Ignoring the facts to make a story work is the surest way to have a story that doesn’t work." - Bill Konigsberg, author of Openly Straight. 

"Mostly virtually. I have done some traveling to the area where the book I'm currently working on is set, but that's a privilege I've only had access to the last couple of years. For the most part, the internet is my library." - Aprilynne Pike, author of Life After Theft and Earthbound.

"In the future, I’d love to devote more time to physical research, but in the case of Quarantine, a lot of our research was online, looking at different floorplans and high school architecture. In the end though, our high school became its own creation, an amalgam of things we’d seen or experienced and things we simply needed for the story to work. There’s only so many settings in a locked high school, but the fun came when we got to re-imagine those places as gang turf." - Lex Hrabe , co-author of Quarantine: The Loners. 

"I do virtual research, and yes, all the time. At the end of the day, I believe readers want a good fiction story, not hard facts." - Victoria Scott, author of The Collector.

More Author Insight: Reality TV Character Casting

What reality TV show would your main character most likely appear on and why?

"Kira is way too busy saving the world to bother with a reality show. Even after the world is saved, she'd just throw herself into something else with obsessive dedication. It's who she is; I don't think she could survive without a cause." - Dan Wells, author of Fragments. 

"Stan Lee’s Superhumans, naturally. It’s a little known series, but was a huge inspiration for me while writing a novel about human mutations." - Natalie Whipple, author of Transparent. 

"I Was a Teenage Gargoyle. Oh wait…that’s not a real reality show??" - Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed. 

"The character I’m writing now could very well be featured in a special juvenile edition of Lockup: Extended Stay. That’s all I’ll say." - Nova Ren Suma, author of 17 & Gone.

Author Insight: Reality TV Character Casting

What reality TV show would your main character most likely appear on and why?

"The main character of my most recent published novel, Rafe Goldberg, would probably have gone on that Gay or Straight show, where a contestant would have had to guess which of four guys is gay. He would have lost, since they would have guessed him fairly easily, much more easily than he’d like." - Bill Konigsberg, author of Openly Straight. 

"Is Survivor still on? (I really don't watch TV anymore) I can see Tavia on Survivor." - Aprilynne Pike, author of Life After Theft and Earthbound.

"Pawn Stars, maybe. I could see our character, Will, trying to hock something he thought was valuable, and getting $5 for it." - Lex Hrabe , co-author of Quarantine: The Loners. 

"Oh, God. Dante Walker would probably be on The Bachelor or something. He’d enjoy being surrounded by all the girls and cat fights." - Victoria Scott, author of The Collector.

More Author Insight: The Write Mood

Apologies that this post is a day later than usual. 

Life reared its ugly head and post scheduling did not occur.

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Sometimes the simple act of writing becomes challenging. How do you make yourself write when you aren’t in the mood? Do you ever reward yourself at milestones?

"Moving to Germany took me away from my board game group, so I've filled the void with the more solitary aspects of gaming, like deck-building for card games and painting miniatures for tabletop wargames. If I hit my work goal for the day I get to play at night :)" - Dan Wells, author of Fragments. 

"Usually I only have a couple hours to write a day, so I don’t really have time to think about my mood. I just have to get as much done as possible with the time I have. This works for me, though. I’ve learned to be efficient and how to focus when I need to." - Natalie Whipple, author of Transparent. 

"I’m always in the mood to write. If I’m not writing something or working on a project I get restless and cranky!" - Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed. 

"Truth? I don’t force myself. If I write from a place of despair or annoyance, the pages show that clear as day. The writing is crap, and I have to throw it out later. What I do instead is something physical that doesn’t involve writing. So then I’m suds deep in the dishes or sorting all my striped socks in the laundry (I like stripes) or shredding old failed manuscripts so trash foragers can’t find legible passages of my awkward drafts in the garbage cans out behind my building and it’ll hit me: the perfect line. And I’m back to writing again. As for milestones, I have a way of not rewarding myself when I accomplish something because I am never, ever satisfied. There is always something new to complete or attack or strive for. I need to stop sometimes and have a slice of cake." - Nova Ren Suma, author of 17 & Gone.

Author Insight: The Write Mood

Sometimes the simple act of writing becomes challenging. How do you make yourself write when you aren’t in the mood? Do you ever reward yourself at milestones?

"I find that the 'reward' system isn’t very effective for me. Like most writers and other addicts, I tend to give myself rewards whenever the hell I feel like it, making it pretty hard to fool myself into thinking I’ll only get that piece of chocolate after 10 pages. I mean, why not now, this very moment? Mmm. Thanks, Bill. Thanks for the piece of chocolate." - Bill Konigsberg, author of Openly Straight. 

"My writing time is so limited, that when I have it, I just simply have to write. I'm not sure how, really. I just put my fingers on the keys and write very bad prose. Chocolate is helpful.:)" - Aprilynne Pike, author of Life After Theft and Earthbound.

"I’ve spent years forcing myself to burn the midnight oil and write and write and write, and I don’t think it’s actually been that productive. Recently, I’ve learned to be more in tune with my creativity. To listen to it. Be sensitive to it. Slow down. If it’s not happening, it’s better to step away from the desk. My biggest discoveries, the best fixes, have come to me when my brain is at rest." - Lex Hrabe , co-author of Quarantine: The Loners. 

"I write 2,000 words a day, M-F when drafting. I don’t know how I make myself write when I don’t want to. I just do. It’s a job, and everyday people get up for work when they don’t want to. Writing is the same." - Victoria Scott, author of The Collector.

More Author Insight: Books with Influence

What do you feel is the most widely influential book you’ve read in the last few years?

"Widely influential? I assume it's whichever book ending up being read by the greatest number of people, though I have no idea which one that would be. I read the Game of Throne books last spring, so probably those?" - Dan Wells, author of Fragments. 

"In general? For all people? For me as a writer? As a person? Each one has a different answer, but I guess for me as a writer it would have to be Julie Halpern’s Into The Wild Nerd Yonder. Maybe an odd answer, but it was the book that gave me the courage to explore writing contemporary—something I’d been afraid to do beforehand— and writing contemporary has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done as a writer." - Natalie Whipple, author of Transparent. 

"Unfortunately, I read 50 Shades of Gray, which seems to be influencing people everywhere." - Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed. 

"Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers. This is the book that comes up most when fellow YA writers tell me what influenced them, and I can see why. It’s a rare voice, raw and gutsy, and the authentic characters and the daring plot push the reader to new levels of awe and excitement and discomfort. If you’re a YA reader and haven’t read this book yet, you have a hole in your life that must be filled." - Nova Ren Suma, author of 17 & Gone.

Author Insight: Books with Influence

What do you feel is the most widely influential book you’ve read in the last few years?

"Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, the first young adult novel with an LGBTQ protagonist to make the New York Times Bestseller list. It has helped to greatly expand the audience for the types of books I write." - Bill Konigsberg, author of Openly Straight. 

"I think you can choose any of Harry Potter, Twilight, or Hunger Games as the most influential book to the industry, but the book that really had an influence on me personally was Janni Lee Simner's Bones of Faerie, from Winter 2009. Mostly because it was a faerie book that was exponentially better than mine. And since I've gotten the opportunity to meet and get to know Janni, she's a storyteller I really look up to and think about when I'm writing." - Aprilynne Pike, author of Life After Theft and Earthbound.

"I read The Big Sleep recently. I’d never read Chandler before, but I was blown away. His work is the touchstone for the boatloads of crime fiction and noir that followed him (and still to come), and somehow he reads more fresh, funny and stylish than any of his imitators. That’s good writing." - Lex Hrabe , co-author of Quarantine: The Loners. 

"Bird By Bird by Anne Lammot. It teaches you so much about writing, and about life." - Victoria Scott, author of The Collector.

More Author Insight: Literary Lifestyles

How has your life changed since you sold your first book and joined the publishing industry? Did you maintain life as you knew it or ditch the day job and become a full-time author?

"I quit as soon as my contracts got big enough to support my family, and it's awesome. Last summer we moved to Europe, planning to stay there for two years, just because I'm not tied to a desk job anywhere and we wanted to try something cool and adventurous." - Dan Wells, author of Fragments. 

"Honestly? It hasn’t changed much. I still live in the same place, still take care of my kids, still squeak in work where I can. Oh, except I have three kids now instead of the two when I sold. Maybe it’ll change more after debut, but for now I’m happy just how it is." - Natalie Whipple, author of Transparent. 

"I was a stay-at-home mom, so I didn’t have a day job to ditch—but I would have in a second had I been working full time somewhere!" - Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed. 

"I stayed at work through the publication of my first book, Dani Noir. The day I quit my last day job in a long series of day jobs was when I was writing my second book, Imaginary Girls, under a swiftly approaching deadline. I left my last work cubicle in excitement, relief, and sheer panic. Sometimes, and this always happens during low writing moments, I fantasize about just setting up camp in my old cubicle and surprising my former manager so he’ll happen upon me when he comes in with his morning coffee. 'Hi, Mark! I’m back!'" - Nova Ren Suma, author of 17 & Gone.

Author Insight: Literary Lifestyles

How has your life changed since you sold your first book and joined the publishing industry? Did you maintain life as you knew it or ditch the day job and become a full-time author?

"I ditched my day job prematurely. I had just sold my second book (which, as it turns out, was later cancelled when my editor left the publishing house), I was going on tour, and I figured I couldn’t do it and a day job. Perhaps that was true, but a couple years later I was without work and without a book deal and had to go back to work. I am once again 'just a writer,' but I think this time it will likely stick as I have many more irons in the fire." - Bill Konigsberg, author of Openly Straight. 

"I am a full-time author, but since I was a full-time mom before that, I haven't exactly quit my job.:) Honestly, my life hasn't changed much since I started writing. Before, I ran my household and took care of kids and plunked away at the keyboard whenever I got a chance. These days I still run my household and plunk away at the keyboard whenever I get a chance. I just get paid for it now." - Aprilynne Pike, author of Life After Theft and Earthbound.

"We’ve gotten busier. So far, between deadlines and the fact that Quarantine is a trilogy, there hasn’t been much time for a typical day job. Making the ends meet can be a challenge (and stressful), but somehow things work out." - Lex Hrabe , co-author of Quarantine: The Loners. 

"I left my job before becoming a published author b/c the paper I was working for was folding. Life has definitely changed since becoming published. It’s different. It’s amazing." - Victoria Scott, author of The Collector.

More Author Insight: Creating Characters

When you conceptualize a character does personality or physicality come first or does a complete person instantly form?

"Personality never really surfaces in my characters until after I start writing them, which is why I do a lot of pre-writing. I know what a character's going to do long before I know how or even why." - Dan Wells, author of Fragments. 

"For me, I usually get a character with 'a problem.' I learn about personality and appearance from there. So with Fiona from Transparent, I knew she was invisible and that her father made her steal. Everything else came after that." - Natalie Whipple, author of Transparent. 

"Personality, definitely. I build their physical side based on that." - Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed. 

"My characters are often modeled on people I’ve met in real life or seen somewhere, so personality and physicality are shaped by what I’ve observed and noticed and carried with me and distorted in my memory. Then fiction takes over and builds the disguise even thicker. You may never know I’m writing about you, but haha, I am!" - Nova Ren Suma, author of 17 & Gone.