Branding Myself

[rj_anderson]

(Ow! That iron's hot!)

As my Facebook friends will have heard but I stupidly forgot to mention here until now, I got my signed contracts and my first cheque back from HarperCollins this week. Woo, yay, whee, etc.!

Still no revisions, though. O Editor, Where Art Thou? Never mind, I know the answer: working frantically on other projects which are due RIGHT NOW, or possibly yesterday. Editors are perpetually and incurably busy.

In other happy news, I'm featured in the Fall 2007 newsletter (PDF) from my agent, Adams Literary. They've done a little piece on my blog, and included two of my contract-signing photos. Very exciting! (And if you're reading this and have just arrived here from there, hail and welcome.)

Also, if you're interested in learning how to write a successful query letter, you may want to check out the fangs_fur_fey community, where a number of us have been sharing our queries and answering questions about them. I'm not scheduled to post mine until Sunday, but as most of you know, it wasn't the letter that made the difference for me, it was the referrals. So while I am including the letter for folks to look at, I'll also be talking about networking and the importance of maintaining good relationships with agents and editors, even those who reject you.

Finally, I've just swiped this meme from mistraltoes, and post it here for anyone who may feel inclined to answer:

What would you say are the trademarks of my writing? What themes or quirks or turns of phrase have you noticed? What is it that makes a story by me -- well, a story by me?

Go on, mock me. I know you want to. :D

Comments

[olmue.livejournal.com]

I saw that newsletter and smiled. You looked so happy in those photos!

I'd say one of your hallmarks is your similes/metaphors (sorry, I'm living in another language and I can't remember which is which anymore). You use a lot of comparisons, and they are always fresh and surprising, yet in character for the situation/characters at hand. Also, you have a nice sense of pacing, specifically of balancing back story, questions you want the reader to think about, and current, forward-moving action.

[timeheldinsepia.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the newsletter and the HarperCollins cheque!

[doire]

Congratulations. Cheques are pretty irrefutable proof.

[leah-s.livejournal.com]

You have a wonderful rhythmn to your writing- there are no weird abrupt stops or "off balance" sentences which mark a writer with no musical ear. And allusions to God always find their way in.

[robinellen.livejournal.com]

Yay, Rebecca -- I'd do your meme, btw, but I haven't read enough of your writing :) (Soon to be changed when your book appears on the bookshelf!)

[jgurtler.livejournal.com]

Haven't read your work- yet.

Yay on the branding. It's like you're a rock star. Um. Except for books. A book star. Hopefully you'll get groupies.

Janet

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

A book star -- hee! I like that.

[pameladean]

I once wrote an entire novel while awaiting revisions on a different one. What really bugs me, lastingly, is that you wait and wait and wait and then they plop your editorial letter or your copy-edited manuscript or your galleys down on your doorstep and sometimes, I kid you not, they actually say in the accompanying letter that they need it all back on a date before the date on which you got it. It isn't usually that bad. It's usually just on a date far, far too near but still in the future.

And yet they never, ever send you a time machine.

P.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Pamela, you're very comforting. :D

I don't think I'll finish my current novel before I get my first set of revisions on Knife (at least I hope not!), but I could see how it might be possible to finish it off while waiting for the second and third set, definitely...

I agree, a time machine should be standard issue for all authors.

[kerravonsen]

What would you say are the trademarks of my writing?

Linear plots. Prose polished like a gem. Long rather than short. Likeable yet human original characters.

[etlhoy.livejournal.com]

Coming from fanfic, the first thing I notice is your impeccable English. If I see one more person 'illicit' a reaction I may throw my computer across the room. I actively like your OCs as people, and, the highest praise of all for a fanfic author, (although it works better for TV fanfic than books like Harry Potter) I can actually hear the characters saying the lines in my head. WHen reading your writing I never get the urge to break out a red pen.

[lydaclunas.livejournal.com]

Well-drawn characters and poetic prose with memorable turns of phrase.

[jessanndi.livejournal.com]

where can I find your facebook?

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Here I am! (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692932749)

[(Anonymous)]

Potentially deeply cliched situations made original, simply by being made human.
Carefully polished prose that makes the reading experience almost effortless.

Protagonists (albeit I've only been introduced to a few thus far) who are at odds with the norm of their society.

[shoebox2.livejournal.com]

Oh shoot, that was me again. Really have to fix that glitch.