Agent Friday: Kate Shafer Testerman

Today's agent is Kate Shafer Testerman, with KT Literary. Kate is Denver-based, and I have had the pleasure of sitting in a workshop with she and Kristin Nelson back in January.

Kate is an avid blogger, which I love. She is also obsessed with shoes, and blogs as "Daphne Unfeasible". In most blog posts, "Daphne" highlights a query letter, then gives her opinion on whether it was effective and why. She also posts a picture of a pair of shoes, that amazingly relates to the query.

A writer learns a great deal by reading the queries of other writers. And Daphne's readers often chime in with comments that further illuminate why a particular query worked, or didn't quite convey what it intended.

If you would like to submit a query for posting on the blog, check out the guidelines here.  

To read her Writer Resources, go here.

And if you're thinking about writing a query, or sending queries out, make sure you read through as many blog posts as you can. Your query will be stronger for it.

If you'd like to know more about Kate, here are some online interviews:

Guide to Literary Agents

Interview by Kay Cassidy

Literary Life

Cool Stuff 4 Writers

Want to see the other agents I've highlighted? Click on the "Agent Friday" label on the right.

My Google Universe: Google Reader

All the pre-published writers I know are in a time crunch. Why? Because writing is not their full-time job. There are bills to pay and kids to feed, and the additional time that can be squeezed out of the day needs to be spent writing, not trolling the internet.

However, writers are told to spend time learning about the publishing business, understanding ways to imiprove their craft, and keeping track of what is being published in their genre. And that takes time.

The Time Crunch
How many times have you clicked on a blog, only to spot an interesting blog title in the author's blog roll? An hour later you wonder how you ended up far from your starting point. Leapfrogging blogs is enjoyable, and can lead to some great blog discoveries, but it's a huge time waster.

The Sporadic Blogger
It's also annoying when you click on your bookmarked blog links for days in a row, only to discover that a particular blogger has not posted anything new for a week. Some bloggers with excellent material only post once a week, or even less, and you feel like you've wasted time checking every day. Put that time to better use.

Last week I highlighted the ways Google Notebook can help a writer. This week, we'll take a look at Google Reader.

Google Reader is another free development from the search engine giant. It allows you to read all your blogs from one easy screen. All the blogs with new posts are hightlighted, so you won't waste time checking on blogs that have no new postings.

Easy
All you do is click the button that says "add a new subscription" (Google Reader does require you to have a free Google account), and you're done. You can group your favorite blogs by type. I have blogs from agents, blogs from authors, miscellaneous writing blogs, and then my friends' blogs.

Organized
As I scroll through each blog, Google Reader automatically marks what I've read, so at a glance I can see which ones are unread. If I'm pressed for time, I can choose to see just a list of a blogs titles, in order to select which ones I'd like to read.

Likeable
If I like a particular post, I can "star" it or "like" it to come back to it. Alternatively, I can share a blog post with friends, or email it to them.

Prophetic
Google Reader takes a look at what I've subscribed to, and makes suggestions based on my preferences. This is a great way to find blogs that I may not have found otherwise.

A few other places to read about Google Reader:

Jane Friedman explains how she uses Google Reader.

The Google Reader blog.

And here's some information about the newest Google Reader toy: Google Play. It uses your prefences to show you fun and interesting things on the web in a slideshow format.

How do you manage your blog reading?

My Favorite Writing Program

When writers write, it's not just about the words on the page. Many of us collect pictures of our characters and storyworlds. We have links to videos and webpages from the research we've done. And we have all kinds of documents to keep track of--previous drafts, already-critiqued chapters, and downloaded research files. No matter if it's fiction or non-fiction, we are trying to keep track of so many pieces of information, that it's sometimes difficult to manage. And then write, of course.


So, I thought I'd tell you about my favorite writing program. It's not free, but it's not expensive, and you get to try it for free for a while. It's called Scrivener. The name comes from a word meaning "scribe", and it has become my favorite way to write.


Sadly, for you PC folks, it's a Mac-only program, but don''t despair. The Scrivener website has a list of PC programs that have some similar features.


Organization

Imagine your writing room has a giant corkboard. You have room to tack up index cards for each of the scenes or chapters in your book. You post all the pictures that inspire you to write, and run strings of yarn between the pictures and the scene in which those characters appear. Use more tacks to attach the various pages of research files and previous drafts, and you might feel inspired--or overwhelmed.


Scrivener does all of this on your computer screen. You've got actual-sized index cards on a virtual corkboard. Give each one a title, and write in a summary of the scene. Is this scene in the point of view of your female protagonist? Change the tack color to pink. If the next scene is in the male protagonist's point of view, you might choose a blue tack. At a glance, you can see if you might have too many scenes in one point of view. I can also drag any card to another spot if I choose to rearrange my scenes.


Inspiration
Since my current novel is set in a real place, I've got many photos of my storyworld (you can see a few of them here). I've also collected photos of my characters. Not only can I keep these images in a file within Scrivener, I can attach any picture to any given scene.


Let's say I'm writing a scene set in a particular castle, with two of my main characters. As I'm writing, those pictures are enlarged on the side of my screen to inspire me.


Memorization
There often is a scene in which I want to make some significant changes. But I'm not really sure they'll work. Scrivener allows me to take a "snapshot" of that version of the scene. Then I go ahead and make all the changes I want without worry, because I can always revert to my earlier snapshot. I can even compare the two versions side-by-side.

And Much More
Scrivener allows you to keep track of your word count, even if you've added words to many different documents in your project. It identifies the words you use, and you'll be able to see at a glance which words you may have overused. Scrivener will estimate how many pages your project will have in paperback and hardback. And to help you focus, you can black out your entire computer screen except for your document and photos.


If you'd like to read testimonials from published authors (both fiction and non-fiction) who use Scrivener, go here.


Check out these video tutorials so you can see how Scrivener looks and works.

Book Review: The Fire in Fiction

I have to confess that I not only haven't read this book, but I don't own it, either. So how can I write a review of it?

Well, yesterday I spent six hours listening to Donald Maass, agent at the Donald Maass Literary Agency teaching principles from The Fire in Fiction, and sat through a workshop the day before that delved further into ideas from the book. Maass' agency is a powerhouse, selling more than 150 books per year.

Maass worked us hard during the workshop, asking us to stretch ourselves far beyond what we thought we could do. We wrote and rewrote the same scenes five and six times, each rewrite adding more tension and conflict. Though it was exhausting, it was rewarding as we watched our scenes evolve and become stronger.

So I'm positive that I will buy The Fire in Fiction, and the things I've learned are already changing the way I write and the way I revise what I've already written.

Maass taught that what he calls "micro-tension" needs to be increased on every page. Micro-tension is what keeps the reader turning pages and staying up at night unable to put a book down. Conflict is the key to holding the reader's attention.

The three key areas to work on are dialogue, action, and emotion. If the writer can increase the tension in every snippet of these three areas, it will be hard for a reader to close the book.

One of Maass' suggestions was to print out your entire manuscript, and throw the pages into the air, scattering them around the room. Gather them up in whatever random order they've landed. Then examine each page, in turn, and find if there is tension on the page. If not, add it. If there is, add more. There can never be enough.

If you'd like to hear more about micro-tension, here are some resources:

An excerpt from Maass' book, part of the Micro-Tension chapter.

A Q&A with Donald Maass.

An interview with Donald Maass.

Novel Journey's interview.

Agent Friday: Chip MacGregor

This week's agent is the proudly Scottish (yay!), kilt-wearing Chip MacGregor. He runs MacGregor Literary Agency. His website states that his greatest desire is to help authors create great books that make a difference in the world.

I love agents who blog. For writers journeying toward publication, there's nothing better than getting a peek into the minds of those who choose which books are ready for publishing houses to take a look at. Blogging agents give you their expertise, their interests (and what turns them off), and explain the often mysterious ways of the publishing world.

Chip's blog is in my Google Reader for a good reason--I learn alot. Between his posts, and his associate Sandra Bishop (a lovely person who I've had the pleasure of meeting), it's worth reading.

One of the most interesting categories on Chip's blog are Questions from Beginners. He posts answers to all kinds of questions about agenting and the publishing industry. In this business, the more you know, the less mistakes you make. So make it your business to learn all you can.

The one thing you can do to help you grow as a writer.

Writing a memoir? Here are some things to keep in mind.

Chip MacGregor's best advice.

And because I'm heading to a writer's conference tomorrow (the wonderful Pikes Peak Writer's Conference), I love these posts: Make the Most Out of a Writer's Conference: Part 1 and Part 2.

Book Review: Never Let You Go

After enjoying Kiss, Erin Healy's first collaboration with thriller author Ted Dekker, I anticipated reading her first solo novel. Never Let You Go is a suspense novel for the Christian market.

I love Healy's protagonist. Lexi Solomon is strong, yet vulnerable. Dedicated, yet conflicted. And torn between her intense feelings of love and unforgiveness.

In the space of twenty-four hours, this single mom is confronted with the three people who have caused her the most grief. Their sudden appearance endangers her fragile emotional and financial balance, as well as her young daughter, Molly. Throw in a growing number of unexplainable and uncanny occurances, and Lexi is on the edge.

But Lexi's life is about to go from bad to worse.

Never Let You Go is a novel about the mistakes we hide, even as we train the spotlight on others for lesser offenses. Forgiveness comes at a cost, but the freedom found is worth it.

Healy is talented at placing the reader in the story with the senses she describes--particularly the sense of smell, which many writers tend to skip or touch on lightly. The point-of-view switches from Lexi, to the protagonist and then the ex-husband. Some of these were a little jarring to me, on occasion. I wonder if the sense of suspense might have been even stronger if Healy didn't "explain" some of the supernatural through the antagonist's POV. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to the next book from this talented author.

Erin Healy's Website.

Erin Healy's blog.

Healy is an award-winning editor who has worked with many of the top names in Christian fiction. Here's a few words she posts on her website:

The Irish girl in me has long been fascinated by the concept of thin places, a Celtic name for locations where the veil between physical and spiritual realities is so slim that a person can see through it. For me, thin places are revelations, bridges between the seen and unseen elements of our lives. Read my books and journey with me into the mysterious places where the spiritual world intersects what is familiar to us, and changes it forever.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” 

My Google Universe: Google Notebook

How many times have you read an article or blog and said: "I need to remember that?" So, you dutifully bookmark the page, and before long, your bookmarks list is longer than Santa's. Not only is that daunting, but if you were trying to find that specific post about, say, proposals, you'd have to patiently scroll through, likely clicking on dozens before you (maybe) found it.

Whether you write fiction or non-fiction there is research involved. The sites you travel to create even more links to keep track of. And if your computer ever crashed, you might lose every one of the links you spent so much time gathering.

Enter Google Notebook. Now you can have all your bookmarks saved online, for free. You can give each entry multiple labels, write comments to remind you why you saved them, and organize them in several ways.

Notebooks

You'll set up a "notebook", which is really like a file folder, for anything you collect information on. I have notebooks for writing articles, a notebook for research on a historical novel I'd like to write, and even a notebook for places to visit in New York City.

Notes

Within each notebook, I can paste the link to a web page that I want to remember. Each link is called a "note". I can write comments on each note, reminding myself why this particular article or web page was one I wanted to remember. I can also "tag" each note with one or more labels. If I have an article that mentions both queries and proposals, I just give it both labels. Later, if I'm searching for notes on queries, a click on the "query" label will bring up those articles, no matter what notebook they're stored in.

Sorting

I'm able to sort my notes either by date or by label. If I forgot an important note that I stored last month, but can't remember the label, I'll sort by date. Google Notebook has a search feature, as well.

Sharing

One of the coolest features is being able to share my notebooks if I choose. Say I have a friend traveling to New York City. Instead of copying and pasting all my links, I can just share the notebook with her via an email message. If she doesn't have a Google account, Google will give her info on how to set one up.

Besides email, there are two other ways of sharing notebooks. I can export the notebook through Google Docs. I can even have my notebook published as a web page and send the link to anyone who wants to see it.

Some links to check out:

Frequently Asked Questions

YouTube Video on how to use Google Notebooks

While you may see news online that Google is discontinuing Google Notebook, they are only discontinuing new development. The product, as is, will continue indefinitely. See the explanation on the Google Notebook Blog.

If you'd like to check out some similar services online, here are seven other possibilities, and another site lists seventeen more.

Google, no matter what your opinion is, has many helpful (and free) applications for writers. Next Wednesday, I'll tell you about another of my favorites. How about you?

Time Management: The Pomodoro Technique

Imagine a clock ticking. Tick, tick, tick. Somehow the sound reminds us of time bombs and deadlines. However, an ingenious author has come up with a way to take the stress out, and replace it with productivity.

In the last month, I've posted twice about time management. One technique disables your internet (temporarily), and the other gently threatens you to keep typing. Francesco Cirillo has come up with quite a simple technique, and it's working well for me.

The Pomodoro Technique is not a piece of software, it's an idea. The idea that you can make yourself do even dislikable tasks, if you only have to work for 25 minutes and have a 5-minute break to look forward to. The name comes from the timer he first used when he tried this technique: a tomato-shaped kitchen timer. Pomodoro is Italian for tomato.

I first heard about the technique on Susanna Fraser's blog. Carillo is generous enough to give away free downloads of his ebook, which explains the idea in detail, and gives troubleshooting tips (like what to do in the case of internal and external distractions).

Coincidentally, the same week that I read Susanna Fraser's blog, I also received Randy Ingermanson's monthly writing newsletter, where he explains a very similar technique (this one uses 50-minute work blocks and 10-minute breaks). It's in the April issue. Randy has an excellent blog, and if you're not signed up for his newsletter, you might want to find out why over 20,000 other writers have done just that. Randy is also the coauthor of the wonderful Writing Fiction for Dummies book. I own an increasingly dog-eared copy.

When I tried the 50-minute work block, I found I was able to write over one thousand words before the timer went off (Randy Ingermanson shares a link to a free downloadable timer that worked well for me). If I completed only two of these "pomodoros" every day, in one month I will have completed 60,000 words. Think about what the Pomodoro Technique might do for you.

If you try it, leave a comment and share how it worked.

Agent Friday: Kristin Nelson

This week's agent is the very talented and energetic Kristin Nelson, with the Nelson Literary Agency. I attended a workshop with Krisin back in January, where she and agent Kate Schafer Testerman (who will be hightlighted in a future Agent Friday) read through a stack of first pages, and gave their feedback on whether they'd keep reading or not. The workshop was very helpful--we were able to see why one agent might love a writer's style, while another might pass. The only downside of the workshop was that my own writing sample was the next one to be read when the workshop ended. Oh well.

Please do check out Kristin's blog. She has so much information for writers who are preparing for the query process, or trying to understand the business of agenting. With all the information that blogs like this provide, there is no excuse for newbie writers to be uninformed. Part of our job, besides writing, is learning how the business works.

A few posts of note on her blog:

Kristin's Agenting 101 blogs: A crash course (twenty-one posts) on every aspect of agenting. If you've ever thought you could represent yourself, hold off on your decision until you've read these posts. The first one is here.

Krisitn's Queries: Examples of her client's successful queries, with Kristin's comments on what caught her eye and why. Here's one example. Find more on the sidebar of her blog.

Kristin's Submission Pitch Letters: These are examples of letters Kristin writes to the editors at publishing houses where she hopes to place her client's books. Check this one out, then find more on her blog's sidebar.

Beginning Writer Mistakes: A list of sixteen posts detailing things to avoid here.

In case you're located in the Colorado Area, Kristin Nelson will attend the Pikes Peak Writer's Conference in Colorado Springs April 23-25th. I'll be there, too. How about you?