Guest post from Laura Lam: The Maze of Publication

Thanks very much to Laura Lam for today’s guest post, highlighting how there’s never just one straight road to publication. Laura is also represented by my agent Juliet Mushens from PFD and her debut YA fantasy novel Pantomime is going to be published by Strange Chemistry in 2013.

You can find her on Twitter here: @LR_Lam
and on her blog: Laura Lam

The Maze of Publication

When I was first learning about the path to publication, it seemed like there was one agreed route. First, you write the book. Then, you get an agent. Maybe you edit with the agent. Then, the agent sells it to a publishing house. You edit, edit, edit, and then the book is on the shelf and hopefully sells a million copies. But over the past year I realised there are different ways to get published. And I ended up taking a different fork in the road.

I subbed to Angry Robot’s Open Door Month in March 2011. I nearly didn’t sub, but a few friends encouraged me, and so off it went. To my delight and surprise, it rose through the slush. I remember pinching myself and thinking: this isn’t how it works. I don’t have an agent. I haven’t written 10 books and then subbed the 11^th one. I haven’t rewritten this book five times. I just put through a book I really loved and hoped they’d love it, too.

That’s not to say that iteration of that book was perfect. It wasn’t, but through the process of the Open Door, I met some online critique partners who were invaluable. Anne Lyle gets a special shout-out for mentioning in one sentence just what I needed to change.

Angry Robot passed me over to their new YA imprint, Strange Chemistry, and my original reader/now editor technically rejected me. I had a revise & resubmit, and so I threw myself into revising my manuscript. I gutted it, re-arranged it, and added at least 30,000 words of new material. I’m really grateful for that second chance—that I wasn’t just written off for not being quite there yet.

I had queried a bit when I found out I was going to editorial, but my query letter wasn’t perfect (probably because the book still wasn’t). Querying the second time around was very different. My query letter was damn good, if I do say so myself, and saying that I had a publisher interested didn’t harm my chances.

I sent the manuscript to my potential editor of Strange Chemistry while I waited, and 3 days later she emailed me saying it was going to acquisitions. Highest of highs! The next day, I had a few rejections on my full manuscript from agents. Lowest of lows! Any kind of rejection is hard, whether it’s a suggestion to do radical changes or the vague “I liked it but didn’t quite love it enough.” In some cases, I think that second reason is harder. You just want to wail “why didn’t you love it/meee!” like a petulant toddler.

With one of the agents, we had a slightly more informal relationship, and so when he rejected me as a near miss (“Why didn’t you love meee!”), I cheekily asked if he had any agents in mind who might be a good fit. He gave me a few names, and one them was Juliet Mushens of PFD. My book ticked a lot of her boxes, and she read it overnight and offered the next day (“She loved meee! Yaay!”).

I had a publishing deal almost in hand before I nabbed the fabulous Juliet. Two days later, I had an offer from the publisher, and so far everything is going well. But I’m also not the only person who goes about publishing almost backwards. Anne Lyle pitched her book at a convention, Adam Christopher sort of got a deal via Twitter and found his agent that way as well, Scott Lynch and John Scalzi put up some writing online and attracted the attention of publishers. People are self-publishing to great success. That’s not to say the traditional agent->publisher route is bad in any way—it’s not, and it’s how any future deals I have will go! Publishing is changing and that means there are more avenues for getting your work noticed that before, which is exciting and wonderful.

For those of you interested in the Angry Robot and Strange Chemistry Open Door Month, today is actually the LAST day to enter this time around, but keep an eye out on their websites for future entries.

Happy Book Birthday to… The Testimony by James Smythe!

Thursdays are a special day in UK publishing, as they normally signify pub dates! I thought for a new feature on the blog I would do a ‘Happy Book Birthday’ to a book that I’ve worked on and want to shout about. And to make up for the shameless HC promotion, I promise to share a little insider-anecdote about something to do with the book to make it a bit more interesting

But actually, I’m going to bend the rules for my first ever Happy Book Birthday, as I didn’t actually work on this specific novel. But I did have the privilege to work on the author’s next book, The Explorer, a brilliant SF novel which is due out in January 2013. But back to the task at hand…

Happy Book Birthday to…

The Testimony by James Smythe

A global thriller presenting an apocalyptic vision of a world on the brink of despair and destruction.

What would you do if the world was brought to a standstill? If you heard deafening static followed by the words ‘MY CHILDREN, DO NOT BE AFRAID’?

Would you turn to God? Declare it an act of terrorism? Subscribe to the conspiracy theories? Or put your faith in science and a rational explanation?

The lives of all twenty-six people in this account are affected by the message. Most because they heard it. Some because they didn’t.

The Testimony – a gripping story of the world brought to its knees and of its people, confused and afraid.

The Testimony is published by Blue Door Books, another imprint of HarperCollins. It’s a rare novel that can combine an ingenious high concept with fast-paced, thrilling action and still somehow remain cerebral, intelligent and well-written at the same time, but somehow James does exactly that. He is definitely an author to watch.

My sneaky-insider anecdote to do with The Testimony takes place during a marketing meeting a few months back. The enigmatic publisher of Blue Door, Patrick Janson-Smith, was concerned about how to get the word out about The Testimony. “I want it to go viral,” he said. “My Children Do Not Be Afraid. If there is ever a tagline that seems destined to ‘go viral’, it’s this.” But how exactly do you go viral. Viral is that word-of-mouth buzz that is so impossible to manufacture by its very nature. One suggestion was to commandeer the tannoy at a busy train station (like Waterloo), and interrupt everyone’s daily commute with the mysterious static and the message: My Children, Do Not Be Afraid. Someone pointed out that we would probably get arrested. “Perfect!” said Patrick.

Unfortunately, in the end, HC just doesn’t let its employees get arrested for the sake of book sales, and so instead a fantastic team effort resulted in this awesome trailer, and I challenge you to not want to read this book after watching it!

And besides, how do you really make something ‘go viral’? By talking about it and wanting to share it with everyone you know, and so that’s why I’m encouraging you to go out and Buy or download The Testimony now!

New acquisition

So yesterday I explained my blog-absence by letting everyone know it was London Book Fair this week… and rest assured I have been keeping busy! Today, proof of that business showed up in The Bookseller, and I am so very excited to share this news!

Woohoo! The deal was listed under ‘LBF: The Big Deals: Fiction‘ and you can read more about the press release as soon as it goes up on the HarperVoyager blog.

Inspiration vlogs: Wadi Rum desert, Jordan

Oops – I’ve been rather neglecting the blog. You might forgive me though as it is one of the most hectic weeks in publishing: the week of London Book Fair! Last week I partied with George RR Martin and some of the Game of Thrones cast members at the Tower of London, went to my first ever party as an author (hopefully more on that when I can share the good news!), and – of course – worked the rights centre at LBF, trying to discover the next big talent for Voyager. Phew!

Now, back to regular blogging, I hope. Or in this case, maybe it’s back to vlogging? Here’s the next video in my ‘inspiration series’ of videos, this time set in the immense Wadi Rum desert in Jordan. Most of The Oathbreaker’s Shadow is set in a desert, and I always love a desert’s stark, barren beauty. I’ve seen where sand dunes touch the ocean in Namibia, been to the world’s smallest desert in the Yukon (the Carcross desert), shooed away flies in the Australian outback, but the Wadi Rum desert really took me by surprise not only for its rainbow coloured sands and immense rock formations, but also because of the people who I met there – the Bedouins – who were happy to demonstrate their way of life to us pesky tourists. You definitely get the feeling that the Bedouin harbour far more secrets than they share, however, and in a place like Wadi Rum, you can hide multitudes – even entire cities. That’s the kind of detail that goes straight into my novel.

This video is a little more awkward than the others, as we had to shoot it in one take before the sun disappeared completely. Hope you enjoy!

Eastercon blog on RHCP website

Today I’m guest-blogging over at the RHCP website ‘Talk about Random‘. Head over to their blog to find out about my panel at Eastercon (Olympus 2012) this past weekend.

This weekend, while most people were tucking into Easter feasts and hunting for brightly-painted eggs, 1400 science fiction and fantasy fans descended on the Radisson Edwardian hotel near Heathrow Airport to attend Olympus 2012 (also known as Eastercon) – the UK’s annual SF convention.

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Read more…

Inspiration vlogs: Abu Simbel, Egypt

It’s no secret that while writing The Oathbreaker’s Shadow, I took inspiration from numerous gorgeous settings around the world (take a look at my inspiration page if you want to see more). Mongolia, China, Thailand, Egypt, Jordan, Namibia, Zimbabwe… no place has truly been safe from my imagination’s safety (one-day-I-might-use-this) deposit box!

So while I was out in the Middle East, I thought it’d be a great opportunity to shoot a few vlogs in some pretty fantastic locations – and explain why these places have such an influence on me as a writer, and in particular on The Oathbreaker’s Shadow.

The first in my ‘Inspiration series’ of vlogs is from Abu Simbel, Egypt…

I hope you enjoy!

Eastercon & Press release for The Oathbreaker’s Shadow by RHCB

Today I’m at Olympus 2012 (Eastercon), my first ever SF convention. Very exciting! If you spot me (I’ll be carrying the HarperVoyager bag), please don’t be shy and say hello! My first panel is on Sunday, but more on that later…

Onto more book-related news… ok, so I feel like I’m blogging this a little late to my own party, but I couldn’t let it go by without a post!

While I was galavanting around the Middle East, my press release went live in The Bookseller (the UK’s book publishing trade magazine). This definitely feels like a bit of a milestone moment for me, as it all starts to feel a bit real now the first bit of PR is out.

They cut out a few bits of the full RHCB press release, so I’ve included the unabridged version here:

RHCB acquires exciting action-adventure fantasy for 2013

For Immediate Release:  

Random House Children’s Books is delighted to announce that they have acquired THE OATHBREAKER’S SHADOW, plus a sequel, by young British-based debut novelist Amy McCulloch. Lauren Buckland, Fiction Commissioning Editor has bought UK and Commonwealth rights for the two books from Juliet Mushens at PFD.

Fans of Philip Pullman, Jonathan Stroud, Garth Nix and George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones are going to love this action-adventure fantasy, set in a world where you tie a knot for every promise that you make. Break that promise and you are scarred for life, and cast out into a desert.

Lauren says; “The Oathbreaker’s Shadow is one the most accomplished debut novels I have ever read, testament to Amy’s love for the fantasy genre and total understanding of what makes a cracking, compelling read. She is an absolute delight and I can’t wait to work with her.”

Juliet says; “Amy McCulloch has created a gripping fantasy epic – I defy readers not to be swept away by Raim’s story.”

Amy McCulloch is Commissioning Editor at Voyager, HarperCollins UK’s fantasy/sci-fi imprint.

Random House Children’s Books are planning to publish as a trade paperback in Spring 2013.

Travel round-up… and all that fantasy authors have to live up to.

Well, the trip is over and I’m finally home after a quick pitstop in Vienna. Already I’ve had one day at work and it hardly feels like I’ve been gone at all! Oh yes, except when I came back after work and sorted through all 1,500 photos (just that many?)… it’s been an unbelievable experience, and I can’t recommend Oasis Overland highly enough. We saw loads but barely had to make a single decision – which made it incredibly relaxing too. The pace was great, and we never felt rushed through a site (or, for that matter, bored of one!)

Highlights?

• Camel ride to the Pyramids of Giza
• Abu Simbel
• 
• Haggling the markets of Aswan
• Hot-air ballooning over Luxor
• 
• Tomb of Rameses VI in the Valley of the Kings
• My quattro stagioni birthday cake in Hurghada
• Breakfast at Shams in Dahab
• Night Dive bioluminesence
• Wadi Rum scenery
• 
• That first glimpse of the Treasury in Petra

Egypt and Jordan are both destinations that have been high on the ‘to visit’ list for quite some time, but that desire became even more heightened after selling The Oathbreaker’s Shadow. I’ve got a few videos coming up (probably over next week) that will tell you exactly why these far-flung destinations mean so much to the book.

But even more than being just ‘inspiration’, being privileged enough to actually visit these sights and not just stare wistfully at other people’s travel blogs has been a humbling experience. As an avid reader of fantasy, I’m used to being swept away to exotic locations that I can never hope to visit. But the more I travel, the more I’ve come to realize that, as fantasy authors have our work cut out for us trying to imagine anything more weird and wonderful than some of the locations that already exist on this planet.

But boy, do we have fun trying.

Petra, city of wonders.

When we walked into Petra, our guide Ibrahim had only one comment: it’s totally empty. He recounted a story of being there in 2010 and barely being able to move through the Siq – the thin fissure in the rock which marks the entrance to the main city. Apart from camel drivers, donkey touts and another group of French tourists, it felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Which for us was, of course, fantastic.

I think the beauty of Petra is impossible to describe in words. Honestly, even photographs don’t do it justice. At one point in the Siq, our guide told us to stop and close our eyes. He then manoeuvred us 15 paces through the rock, positioned us in a line and made the big reveal. The first glimpse of The Treasury peeking through the rock, the contrast between the natural and the ornate so extreme here.

The Treasury is the Petra show stopper, and it also stands as a testament to what the mysterious Nabatean civilisation achieved: a blend of Egyptian, Roman, Greek and their own construction, a welcome touch of home for weary travellers and a great display of wealth for wily traders. That the Bedouins managed to keep the city so secret for so long adds to the wonder, of a city lost to time and to history.

Beyond the Treasury (once you can tear your eyes from it), the vastness of the city continues behind. I think this is what I didn’t expect of Petra – just how BIG it is. In all, with a big hike up to the Monastery area (another immense structure), we spent 10 hours exploring the site. By the end of it, as the sun was setting, we were all exhausted and awed. And even that felt like barely scratching the surface.

Sadly, it’s now the end of the trip. We are currently in the Christian city of Madaba, having had a float on the Dead Sea, visited Mt Nebu, where Moses died, and St George’s Church, which contains one of the earliest examples of a map, in the form of a mosaic on the floor. Stunning.