Finding an Agent

So, in the past few weeks, I’ve been doing a lot of research on literary agents.  I have a list going of whom I want to query, but to be honest, the whole process is intimidating and a little confusing.  Not the writing a letter part, but trying to decide whom to query.  The problem isn’t the agencies.  They are all very helpful and resourceful and specific about what kind of literature they want to represent.  

My problem is I’m not sure what my genre my book is.  

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big fan of Meg Cabot and Nicholas Sparks.  I like to think my book and my writing style are a bit of a combination of the two.  I’m not as quirky or girly as Meg Cabot and I’m not as steamy or mushy as Nicholas Sparks, but my story has several similar elements to both authors. 

Off the bat, I’m tempted to say the closest fit I can figure for my manuscript would be Paranormal/Romance, because there are ghosts and there is a little romance.  The problem is that whenever I hear the words “Paranormal/Romance,” I think of Twilight and all the other supernatural love stories it’s spawned inspired over the years.  You know, the ones with really dramatic titles, pink and purple and dark blue covers mixed with black and silver, and a ridiculously attractive person staring down at the ground and looking pensive.  That is not my story at all.  Yeah, my story has paranormal elements (ghosts), but there are no fallen angels, vampires, witchcraft schools, half-humans, or anything of the sort and the romance is light, fluffy, and clean (I try to keep my work PG-13).  There are also elements of suspense (because hello, we need a plot), character development, revelations along the way, and, if you want to read it in such a way, a touch of Christianity and spirituality mixed in.  All in all, however, it is a general work of fiction with a few ghosts thrown in.   

For the record, this is the most I’ve ever written about my book online.  It has been copyrighted, but I’m still not ready to post too much more information, such as title, characters, etc…  Don’t want to give it all away!  I’m just hoping that I might figure out what to do as far as pitching/query goes.  Or maybe, if I’m lucky, someone might see this post and offer me some guidance!

A girl can hope! 

Anyway, thanks for reading and if you have any advice or input, I’d be glad to receive it.  

 

 

Keep Moving Forward

Today, I was feeling a little better, so I took a trip to the library.  I picked up two books on writing proposals and query letters.  I’ve been scribbling out ideas, but I still need some guidance on structure and content.  Granted, I know that how-to books can only take you so far.  A lot of it has to come from inside of you (that sounds so profound, doesn’t it?).  A few years ago, when I first realized that I wanted to be an author, I read On Writing by Stephen King.  He said that one of the worst mistakes that an aspiring author can make is taking a writing class.  On her website, Meg Cabot says the same thing.  Well, I ignored their words of wisdom.  I took three writing classes throughout the course of college and graduate school.

Guess what?

I hated them.  Well, technically, I hated two of them.  Poetry was pretty okay.  Except for this really creepy guy with a demonic gargoyle tattooed on his wrist, but you know, to each their own.  Anyway, I enjoyed poetry because A) I really suck at poetry and it was interesting to learn and B) I don’t want to be a poet.

But the other classes?  Horrible.  Though you know, the professors may have had something to do with that.  Without a gifted instructor who genuinely cares about their students and wants to help them succeed, any class is going to be horrible.  One of my teachers actually told us that writing was a waste of time, none of us would ever get anywhere with it, and that we should just give up now.

Great encouragement, right?

Anyway, along with those books on how to write query letters, I also picked up a few books for my new manuscript.  Perusing through the aisles reminded me of all the times I’d visited libraries for research papers and projects throughout my six years of higher education.  May I just say it is a lot more fun doing research for something you actually want to write rather than something you are told you have to write or else you fail.

Well, that’s about all I have for tonight.  I’m gonna go microwave myself some dinner.  Good night!