Adventures with WEbook October 9, 2010

Time for another WEbook update!

I know, I know, you’re so excited you can hardly breathe. But relax, sit back, and hold onto your toque (a little Canadian humour for you – you know who you are – *eyes “knitted beanie”).

Firstly, the vampire stories both tanked. I was expecting that, given how sick of the undead blood suckers people seem to be. I was expecting to see a difference in stats between the first and third person POVs though, and that didn’t pan out.

My tentative first page for the sequel to The Firestorm Conspiracy also failed to advance. I was saddened by this as I had hoped the idea was decent – and now I am scrambling to find an alternate plot in time for NaNoWriMo.

My historical romance and my avian sci-fi (which was more like fantasy) were eliminated. The historical was pretty much thrashed from the moment it was posted, but I’d hoped the sci-fi would’ve made it as I was thinking it might turn into a short story or possible spin-off novel.

On the plus side, Nikko’s Bond (which is also meeting with a lot of agent interest) has been elevated to the second round. I’m excited to see how it does in the 5-page round. It’s under review by a “publishing pro” and should start posting ratings in round two later this week.

Job Hunted is now firmly ensconced in round three (HOORAY! I am so proud of this baby!) and I am awaiting the review of the 5-page sample by an agent. I’m VERY curious to see how the rating of the 50-page sample goes – I’m not an expert rater, so I have no idea what to expect.

The entry that surprised me the most was my romantic comedy. It flew through the first round. I honestly expected it to tank. I mean, it was a piece of fluff, right? Well, apparently it is appealing fluff. I based it on a short story I wrote a few months ago, but now I have a problem – the short story got resolved in six pages and there’s not enough to stretch it into a novel. I have not submitted a 5-page sample for this one yet because I have no idea what the next four pages should be.

Well, I must dive back into the edits. Tomorrow is Sunday and I want to get the manuscript back to my editor by Monday.

C.

WEbook Update September 9, 2010

I received an email from the WEbook people informing me that my story Blood Sisters (2) had been eliminated due to a lack of 4s and 5s. I am not surprised. I wrote my teen vampire novel pages for fun – and to see which would do better: a vampire story told in first person, or one told in third person.

Blood Sisters (2) was the third person POV, and the first to get the boot. I’m not sure that says anything about the difference between first and third though – the other one has the same percentage, but fewer votes, which is the only thing keeping it alive. I suspect its sister entry will be turfed in the next few weeks.

How about a quick rundown of my entries since it’s been awhile:

ROUND 2

Job Hunted – 80 ratings, 79% 4s and 5s

ROUND 1

Nikko’s Bond – 109 ratings, 49% 4s and 5s

A Gift Under the Rose – 105 ratings, 42% 4s and 5s

The Firestorm Defection – 109, 37% 4s and 5s (probably won’t make it, but will be fun to write for NaNoWriMo)

Rules of Engagement – 112 ratings, 58% 4s and 5s (I am stunned – seriously stunned)

Avian Chronicles: Ascension – 110 ratings, 50%

Blood Sisters (2) – 122, 34% (eliminated)

Blood Sisters – 109, 34% (should be gone soon)

The rate ratings come in has slowed so far down it’s not funny. While I don’t check my WEbook pages as often as I used to, I still think it’s fun. I like seeing what others think of my writing, and it’s an interesting way to test out book ideas without having to write the entire novel and go through the query process. Of course, I only paid for one entry, the others were a ‘thank you’ for participating during the beta phase, but it was still worth the money.

C.

WEbook Contest August 8, 2010

I entered WEbook’s August short (really short – only 200 words) story challenge. The theme is cheating, and you can take the idea any way you want, but the challenge is to tell a story in 200 or fewer words. I took my 480-word short story, Online Dating, and managed to cut it down to 197 words in order to enter the contest (http://www.webook.com/submission.aspx?p=17e2760980cc437097f102b45e997813&st=8870b8b92b9142ed87d40d73398fe257). So far the feedback has been pretty positive, and most people like my original take on the subject.

I also posted my query for Nikko’s Bond on the query contest thread over at WriteOnCon. It will be interesting to see what Ms. Stampfel-Volpe thinks of my entry (if anything), given she’s on my list of dream agents (is in fact pretty much at the top of said list).

Speaking of WriteOnCon… it’s only two days away, and I’m starting to get super excited about it! I even have little butterflies! The schedule for all three days has been posted (http://writeoncon.com/about/schedule/) and there are some pretty awesome sessions being offered. Plus, I’m totally curious to see how they’re going to juggle 1400 people in a single chat room!

Hope to see you there!

C.

WEbook Update – Again July 6, 2010

I have it on good authority that updates like this are interesting and positively received by those few of you who actually follow my blog… If this is not the case, and my trusty cheerleader is hallucinating (from malaria, do doubt), then I apologize.

Here we go. I entered 7 new pieces during the weekend WEbook gave me a free pass. Here are the percentages as of tonight:

Nikko’s Bond has 30 ratings with 50% wanting it elevated.

A Gift Under the Rose has 29 ratings with 27% wanting it elevated. I suspect I will receive an email in the next day or so telling me it has been removed from consideration. They do that once a page reaches 30 votes and doesn’t show signs of moving on (and 27% is way too low).

The Firestorm Defection has 30 ratings with 40% wanting it elevated. It too is in danger of being booted…

Rules of Engagement is kicking serious ass with 30 ratings and a whopping 70% approval. It’s crazy!

The Avian Chronicles: Ascension is also doing well with 31 ratings and a 58% approval.

Blood Sisters (2) [the one in third person] is still alive with 31 ratings, but only 33% want it elevated so it may bite the bullet soon.

Blood Sisters [the one in first person] is performing better, with 29 votes and 42% wanting it elevated. I’m not sure it’s strong enough to go the distance, but it is interesting to note that my theory about first person being more popular in YA seems to be holding true…

As you know, Job Hunted was elevated a looong time ago. I have a second round submission for it, and it has 36 ratings (there were two full weeks between ratings #35 and 36) with an 88% approval rating. I am pleased with this, but am beginning to despair of ever reaching the third round with the pace things are currently at.

There you have it, folks.

C.

Page to Fame Stats June 27, 2010

Now that I have eight entries kicking around on the Page to Fame site I thought I’d post semi-regular updates on how each page is performing.

Here’re how things stand according to my page (which is 3 days behind the actual ratings):
 
Nikko’s Bond has 10 ratings with 60% approval,
A Gift Under the Rose has 7 with 28%,
The Firestorm Defection has 9 with 33%,
Rules of Engagement has 9 with 78%,
Avian Chronicles has 9 with 78%,
both Blood Sisters have 10, each with 60% (both have five 4s and one 5),
and Job Hunted (5-page sample) has 32 with 94%.

Quite frankly, I am surprised at how well Rules of Engagement and Avian Chronicles are doing. I’m also shocked that my vampire tale hasn’t been ripped to shreds by people tired of vampires… I know it’s early, but I’m also surprised at the lack of difference between the two vampire tales. I expected the first person one to do better than the third person version.

I’m super proud of my 5 page rating – none of the 5-pagers I’ve rated have anywhere near as strong stats.

C.

Exciting News! June 24, 2010

I know I’ve mentioned Miss Snark’s First Victim’s (aka the Authoress) blog (http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/) before – it’s the one where she regularly runs critique contests for writers and readers. If you’ve never visited her site, you should check it out. Her “Secret Agent” contests are awesome!

Her other, more informal contests are also pretty spectacular – as I discovered this morning. I entered her most recent one which was a simple, “post the first 25 words of your WIP, and we’ll critique them,” kind of deal. Having had portions of Job Hunted already critiqued (and rated on WEbook), I decided to field one of the first pages I wrote during the WEbook free submission weekend.

I chose the first 22 words from Nikko’s Bond (I had to stop at the end of a sentence, that’s why it’s only 22), and posted them. So far I have received nine reviews – there are some folks who take the time to offer well-thought critiques (which is why I like the Authoress’ contests so much). I like offering suggestions to others too – I learn more by reading other’s writing than by simply getting feedback on my own.

Anyway, I received an email this morning (here’s the exciting news, in case you were confused about where your pulse was supposed to start racing) from the Authoress informing me that a well-known YA literary agent had spent some time perusing the latest contest entries and asked her to send on a request for a query and sample pages. I won’t divulge the name of the agent, although I will say the agent is one of the previous “Secret Agents” listed on the left-hand column of the blog.

I had a serious moment of *SQUEE* when I read the email. I mean, the process is supposed to work the other way around, right? I’m supposed to fire off a million queries and hope a few agents take enough interest in what I’ve written that they decide to request pages – it’s *my* job to find an agent for my work. To have an agent contact me – after reading only 22 words – is a little mind-blowing to say the least.

Now, the one drawback to this situation is I haven’t completed Nikko’s Bond yet, so I can’t fire off a query and pages right away. But I have the incredibly flattering consolation that the voice that came through in only 22 words was strong enough to attract the interest of an agent. I’m going to post the first page under the writing link (on the right side of my blog) in case you want to see if you can see what the agent thought she saw.

I know there are no guarantees in this business, and the agent may not end up being interested in the manuscript, but you have to admit, this is still pretty exciting!

C.

WEbook Submissions June 21, 2010

As I posted yesterday, I took advantage of WEbook’s offer of a free weekend to submit to their Page to Fame site. I thought I would share the blurbs for each.

Romance, Historical Fiction – A Gift Under the Rose: Siobhan’s life is shattered when the king returns from battle with her husband’s body. Her son’s place as laird is usurped by his uncle and she’s forced to flee with the boy. She seeks sanctuary in the king’s dun working as a healer and mid-wife.

Romance, Humour/Satire – Rules of Engagement: Patrick Swanson and Lydia Harper are best friends with a secret – each is in love with the other. Sparks fly when an arguably un-platonic kiss plunges the pair into a romance neither expected. Their chemistry is phenomenal, but can their friendship survive the explosion?

Sci Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure – The Firestorm Defection: Colonists are defecting to work in avian hard labour camps at an alarming rate, and Earth’s government wants to know why. The Firestorm and her crew must find the truth behind the defections before it’s too late – the fate of the human species depends on it.

Young Adult/Juvenile, Sci Fi/Fantasy – Nikko’s Bond: Nikko is a host – a child bred to symbiotically support one of the Old Ones. Nikko’s best friend is declared surplus when her symbiont dies before they can merge, and Nikko must decide between merging with his own symbiont or saving his friend from termination.

Young Adult/Juvenile, Thiller/Suspense – Blood Sisters: Gwen is tired of being a vampire. She wants to be like her best friend, Tricia: young, popular, and mortal. A cure for vampirism surfaces; and Tricia’s blood holds the elixir. Gwen must choose: protect her friend and continue her immortal life, or break the bonds of friendship and take the cure herself. (I actually submitted this one twice – once in first person, and again in third person POV. I’m very interested in seeing how the two versions compare)

Sci Fi/Fantasy – The Avian Chronicles: Ascension: Trilla, youngest daughter of the fourteenth Matriarch, thinks she’s below the notice of her sisters’ political machinations; until one of them tries to kill her. Thrust into a world of intrigue and corruption, Trilla must decide: flee and live as an exile, or stay and risk death to become Matriarch.

WEbook Entries June 20, 2010

As a reward for entering the first page of Job Hunted in WEbook’s Page to Fame way back when the site was still in its beta phase, they gave me a coupon that allows me to submit for free all weekend. At first I thought, “Meh, I’m not working on anything other than my really awesome novel right now. I won’t need this.” But then I realized given how slowly the ratings are trickling in, any pages I posted would be up for months before being elevated. In addition, I would have another six months from the time anything was elevated to post the five page sample. Given that I hope to be finished Job Hunted by September, I would conceivably be starting another project around the time another page was elevated.

So, I decided to do a little brainstorming and take advantage of the free offer. As of this moment, I have submitted five more first pages, and plan on submitting at least two more (these are the same story, but I’m doing one draft in first person and the other in third person limited to see if there’s a difference in ratings).

To celebrate Father’s Day, we went to a local historical site where they were firing muzzle-loaded rifles and cannons. In addition, my husband was able to try his hand at knife and hatchet throwing. While I was there soaking up the atmosphere, the little writerly gears in my head were also turning. If there’s time tonight, I may have some historical fiction pages to toss into the ring too.

I’ll be sure to tell you all about the entries in tomorrow’s blog.

C.

NaNoWriMo Article June 19, 2010

Yesterday was quite momentous for me in terms of internet presence. Not only was my first ever guest blog post published, but the wonderful people at NaNoWriMo posted an article about my Wrimo adventures!

Check out: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3599236

I also have a small quote on the WEbook page (https://www.webook.com/poll/writers.aspx) about the stats on my five page submission. At the time I blogged about it, I had 14 ratings and all were 4s or 5s. Even with such a small sample size, I was thrilled to see the 100% next to the icon representing how many raters want to see it elevated.

I now have 26 ratings–all still 4s and 5s–but things are moving VERY slowly. All I can say is I sure hope the second round entries don’t need 200+ ratings before being elevated!

C.

Writing Overload June 17, 2010

Hi folks!

Tonight’s post will be quick because I have waaaay too much writing to do!

If you’ve been following me on Facebook you know I’ve been swamped with reports (excessively long evaluations of student teachers on their extended practica), but I have two other writing assignments that require immediate attention too.

I need to write a guest post for another blog for tomorrow (I’ll put the link to my post in tomorrow’s entry), and I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to write about yet!

I also need to write about my adventures with NaNoWriMo – they want to put my photo and story on their success page (I’ll post the link to that once it’s up too).

Plus, I need to get working on my novel. For some strange reason, it doesn’t appear to write itself.

Oh! And WEbook is having a free weekend for those who submitted entries early on in the site’s life. In addition, they’re lowering the rate (from $9.95 to $3.95) for the month of July – so if you’ve been thinking about putting up a first page or short story, now’s the time.

All in all, it’s going to be a busy night.

C.