September 07, 2006

OKRWA September 2006 Newsletter

From the Prez, Deborah Behrens:


What Does an Agent Want?

What you really should be asking is—what do you want from an agent?
Editing skills?
Someone to handle the business of writing?
Someone to guide your career?
More of a personal relationship?

What’s important to you must be important to your agent.

Some questions to ask yourself when looking for an agent:
Do you need support and feedback?
Does their personality fit your needs?
Will this agent get the job done?
What deals are they making? (Not just for you, but for other authors too.)
Who are they representing?

Be clear about your goals—if they don’t know what you’re trying to achieve, they can’t help you achieve it.

Make sure your agent is your advocate—you don’t want someone representing you if they don’t love your work. They must have your best interests at heart.

Communication is the foundation between an author and an agent.
Are you comfortable with the way they communicate with you?
Are they listening to you?
Will they get back to you when you want them to?

Agents handle a lot of stuff. They can:
Help you decide whether to submit elsewhere
Find out where you check is
Handle cover art
Help you with changing editors if you need to
Get extended deadlines
Make sure your books are there at signings
Convince an editor your book is going to sell

Don’t be a toxic client
Don’t shoot yourself in the foot by saying things or acting in a way that could hurt your career.
Don’t get online ranting and raving about your publishers. Word always gets around.
Don’t use foul language

Never accept a deal without consulting your agent.

Whether you have an agent or not, you should always make sure you know all of the option clauses in your contract. You have to deliver the MS you promised to deliver. A publisher can either make you deliver or they can simply take your money back.

New York or Not?
E-mail is a very strong tool. Business is done this way daily.
Agents don’t go to lunch, they read and get deals done no matter where they are.

What should be most important to an author about an agent?
Sales history
Reputation—whether people regard them well along with how their peers regard them
Communication within the business
Whether they’re responsive or not

And finally—an agent should challenge you as a writer.

There you have it. This is my take on the Agent Panel workshop in Atlanta this year. I hope some of you can put it to good use.

Deb
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Avon FanLit
Submitted by Cyn Marolt

Beginning August 23rd, register on the Avon FanLit site and vote for the most compelling and intriguing Story Line posted by their editorial staff. Then on September 7th, the contest begins! Over a series of six weeks, fans can submit, rate, and discuss 3-page chapters based on the weekly Story Line.

At the end of each round, the chapter with the highest vote total wins and becomes part of the final e-book novella. The winning writer receives a special prize package and is profiled on AvonFanLit.com. Other players who participate by submitting or voting have the opportunity to win weekly prizes, such as gift cards and subscriptions.

Each week's winning chapter sets the stage for the following week's Story Line. When the new Story Line is posted, the process is repeated…until the novella is complete in week six.

Working with Carrie Feron, Avon's Editorial Director, and her editorial team, each week an Avon Romance author panel will review the 10 chapters with the highest vote total. Each author will give their "Author Pick Award" to a chapter. The award will be attached to the chapter and the chapter will earn 3 extra votes for the final voting round.

When you see the Author Pick Award, you know a bestselling author involved in the creative process has recommended the chapter. During the event, click on the award icons to see what the authors are thinking. Get real feedback on what works.

For more details, see Avon’s website at http://www.harpercollins.com/avonfanlit/index.asp or qoogle Avon FanLit.
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OKRWA September Meeting

Annual Retreat -
Members Only

For the annual retreat, September 16, the outlaws will trek way out west to Quartz Mountain Lodge at Lone Wolf, OK, where Mel Odom will corral the captive audience in his Odom Zone for a day amidst the magic at the mountain.

Continental breakfast begins at 8:30 a.m. A boxed lunch will be provided.

For room reservations call: 1-580-563-2424 or 1-877-999-5567> Quartz Mountain Resort
Arts & Conference Center
22469 Lodge Road
Lone Wolf, OK 73655


Quartz Mountain September 2006 Retreat – OK RWA

~The Odom Zone~
Spend a Day with Fiction Author, Mel Odom

Continental Breakfast – 8:30 – 9:30 am – Served in the Meeting Room

Morning Session – World building – 9:30 – 11:45 am

How to get the most bang for their buck in researching historical & current worlds?
1) Reading Kids' books
2) Trolling the web
3) Buying the best books/DVDs on research subjects

How to create your fictional world?
1) How do you pick a time period to use as background?
2) How do you pick a culture to use as a backdrop?
3) How does geography influence a culture?
4) How does technology influence a culture?
5) How does magic influence a culture?

Lunch – Noon to 1:00 pm – Served in the Meeting Room
Afternoon Session – Writing for the Cross Genre Market – 1:00 – 3:30 pm
Writing the Cross-Genre
1) How do various genres work?
2) How suspense can blend any two genres?
3) How can good world building skills blur the lines between genres?

The Cross-Genre Market Place
4) What do readers of blended genres want?
5) Why do readers demand blended genres?
6) Why publishers are resistant to some blended genres?
Q & A with Mel 3:30 – 4:00 pm

Party Time!
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New Releases!!!

Married In Haste by Christine Rimmer

REPENT IN LEISURE?

Well, the wedding of Angie Dellazola and Brett Bravo may have seemed hasty. But in fact they’d know each other all their lives—and, as each of them was the appointed sole sane member of their respective families, what better way to ensure that they stay that way than to get married? Their marriage would be based on respect and common interests—none of that burning, all-consuming love that their family members seemed prone to….

And then, one week into their marriage, it hit both of them like a ton of bricks. Angie and Brett were wildly, madly, passionately in love—with each other! This was not the calm, collected marriage they’d counted on.

Well, the best-laid plans…

Divine By Mistake by P.C. Cast

Oklahoma high school teacher Shannon Parker gets pulled into a mythological world where she is mistaken for the Incarnate of the goddess Epona in the novel that began Cast’s epic fantasy series set in Partholon

Playing With Fire by Gena Showalter

Earth, Wind and Fire aren’t just a band anymore…

Used to be my greatest achievement was holding a job more than three days. Now suddenly I can shoot fireballs, chill your drink, or blow-dry your hair at fifty paces with a blink of my eye!

It all started when this crazy scientist dropped something in my grande mocha latte. Of course I got wicked sick. Next morning I’m waking up with this total hottie bending over me. He tells me 1) his name’s Rome Masters, 2) he’s a government agent and 3) I can control the four elements with a thought.

He seems even less pleased by my (apparently irreversible) transformation that I am. . . because now he’s supposed to kill me. The only good news: I didn’t make this bed of trouble, but Rome sure seems to want me to lie in it. With him.

Read an excerpt
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21 Rules for Writers
Submitted by Rinda Elliott

1. Have Faith – not cynicism.
2. Dare to Dream.
3. Take your mind off publication.
4. Write for joy.
5. Get the reader to turn the page.
6. Forget politics (let your real politics shine through).
7. Forget intellect.
8. Forget ego.
9. Be a beginner.
10. Accept change.
11. Don’t think your mind needs altering.
12. Don’t expect approval for telling the truth.
13. Use everything.
14. Remember that writing is dangerous if it’s any good.
15. Let sex (the body, the physical world) in!
16. Forget critics
17. Tell your truth, not the world’s.
18. Remember to be earth-bound.
19. Remember to be wild!
20. Write for the child (in yourself and others).
21. There are no rules.

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Member News:

P.C. Cast has signed a new two book contract with Berkley for Goddess Summoning Books #6 & 7.

Cyn Marolt 's No One Heard Her Scream is a finalist in the 2006 Golden Gateway Contest - From the Heart Romance Writers - in the Romantic Suspense category. Cyn Marolt's heroine from No One Heard Her Scream has been named a finalist in the 2006 Molly Contest's Unsinkable Heroine Award.

Ammanda McCabe won the Booksellers Best Awardfor Long Historical at RWA.

Alice Clarey's romantic suspense 'Nothing To Fear' took 3rd in the Sheila Contest and her paranormal MS 'Tin Man' is a finalist in the Molly Contest and the Emerald City Opener contest.

Kelli McBride had an essay on plagiarism published in THE POWER OF LANGUAGE, THE LANGUAGE OF POWER Composition Anthology (2nd ed), and she's been asked to write an article for the Oklahoma English Journal, published by the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English (OCTE).

Georgina Gentry reports that the French rights to both To Tame A Texan and To Tempt a Texan have just been sold by her agent, Meredith Bernstein.
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Editor's Note:

I would love to see all member news! Contest finals, wins, contracts, new releases, finished manuscripts,etc... If you have an article to share, it is more than welcome. If you have a new release, forward the blurb along with your website to me. Please email me by the 1st of the month to get it into the newsletter. Thanks! RElliott4@aol.com
Posted by Rinda Elliott :: 10:50 AM :: ---------------oOo---------------