Getting Sentimental. (And Stuff.)

So leave it to me to post this at the last possible minute. *glances around nervously* Note: this post is a part of the TCWT blog chain, which, if you’re a teen writer, you should totally check out. This month’s topic is:

“Is there one particular book that changed your life? If so, why did you originally choose to read it? What impact has it had on you?”

Honestly, I don’t think just one book changed my life. Books in general have, yes, but it’s a combination of all of them–all of their themes, their characters, their stories–that has changed me. It would take too long to highlight all of the books that have changed me, and the truth is, I have no idea what books have changed me, because I am certain that every book I read affects me somehow, sometimes in ways I don’t even know. So to make an accurate list for you, I’d have to write about every book I’ve ever read, which would take way too long.

That said, when I think of books that have changed me, one in particular stands out as being the first book that really got me into reading—and then, later on, publishing. Without this book, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. And the book is… drumroll please… Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.

I read this book when it first came out years ago. I have no idea why exactly I chose to read it, or what I loved so much about it, but something there sparked my interest in books. I mean, I’d always enjoyed reading, but this book was what really had me set on it; it’s what got me addicted to books. I remember staying up “late” with my little reading light on (I WAS A KID, OKAY), furiously going flipping through page after page even though I didn’t understand a good number of the words. Something about this book just grabbed me, and from what I remember, it was one of the first books I ever read on my own. I am so glad I did, too. Inkheart, and if I remember correctly, is about the characters in a book coming to life—which, by the way, would be AWESOME if it could happen now.

Back then, when I first read this, I didn’t understand characterization, or unique plots, or what makes good writing. The only thing I knew about books was when I enjoyed them—and I loved this one. I haven’t read this book in a long time, admittedly, and I would not be surprised if I dislike it now, but the point is, I loved it then, and it eventually got me into read the books that I love now. Without reading Inkheart, I might not have turned out to be the passionate writer I am now. I might not be here—blogging, critiquing, querying.

It’s amazing to think that pulling just one book off the shelf can alter the course of your life. But it can.

Note: I’m writing this in a complete rush, (because, let’s face it, I’m a professional procrastinator) so I apologize for any typos!

January Blog Chain Participants: 

January 5th – http://fida-islaih.blogspot.co.uk – Muslim Spirit by Fida

January 6th – http://theteenagewriter.wordpress.com – The Teenage Writer

January 7th – http://missalexandrinabrant.wordpress.com – Miss Alexandrina

January 8th – http://cinderscoria.blogspot.co.uk – Between The Lines

January 9th – http://avonsbabbles.wordpress.com – Avon’s Babbles

January 10th – http://www.nonconformistwriter.blogspot.co.uk – Life.

January 11th – http://weirdalocity.wordpress.com – Inside The Junk Drawer

January 12th – http://notebooksisters.blogspot.co.uk – Notebook Sisters

January 13th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com – Musings From Neville’s Navel

January 14th – http://theloonyteenwriter.wordpress.com – The Loony Teen Writer

January 15th – http://mirrormadeofwords.wordpress.com – A Mirror Made Of Words

January 16th – http://epistolarygirl.wordpress.com – Epistolary Girl

January 17th – http://www.inklinedwriters.blogspot.co.uk – Inklined

January 18th – http://zarahoffman.tumblr.com – Zara Hoffman’s Blog

January 19th – http://sydneyjoto.wordpress.com – SydneyJoTo

January 20th – http://realityisimaginary.blogspot.com – Reality Is Imaginary

January 21st – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com – The Little Engine That Couldn’t

January 22nd – http://www.katrinakennedy3.wordpress.com – Writers Response

January 23rd –http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com – John Hansen Writes

January 24th – http://miriamjoywrites.wordpress.com – Miriam Joy Writes

January 25th – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com – Teens Can Write, Too! (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain)

Don’t Give Up: A Small Pep Talk

I’ve been thinking a lot lately. (*gasps from the crowd* Whaaaat? John? THINKING? What is this madness?) I’ve been thinking about writing, about publishing, about all of these great people doubting themselves and their writing, thinking they aren’t good enough, or should just give up now–or ANYTHING. And it always hurts when writers doubt themselves, or question why they are even spending their time writing their books because they think they aren’t good enough.

So, why?

We write because we love it, because we can’t not write; writing is hard because you care, and that in itself is an amazing thing–to care about something so much that it causes you this amount of stress.

And sometimes, publishing, or the need to write a perfect book (spoiler: there is no such thing), gets in the way of that, that love. Of course, this sucks, but it’s also only natural. Sometimes it’s important to go back to the little thing that got you into writing in the first place: your passion for it. No matter what stage of your writing career you are at, remember why you’re doing it. It’s natural to feel stressed over writing–in fact, it’s probably a good sign that you are–but never, ever, think you can’t do it, or you aren’t good enough, because if you love what you’re doing, you will be good enough. Maybe you are right now. Maybe not. But you. will. get. there. Also? There is always room to improve no matter what stage you are at, except you can only improve if you truly love what you’re doing. Which, if you’re a writer, is a resounding, “YES IT STRESSES ME THE FREAK OUT BUT YES I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT.”

So my point? Don’t give up on writing just because you think your book will never be published, or because you don’t think you’re any good at it. Just write. Just work as hard as you can on every book and enjoy it. ENJOY IT. If you love to write, then write. And I promise, if you keep working at it, you will get there.

You will.

–John

Giving Back

Today, wonderful readers, I’m doing something a little different, and I hope you all will join me with it.

I think sometimes, when we step back from all of the jokes and the stress of writing and publishing–or of anything, really–it’s important to remember how lucky we are to have this opportunity, to be able to write and blog and read all these great books and pursue our passions, because not everyone can do that. And from a publishing perspective, if more people had these equal opportunities, think of all the amazing books that can be written, the stories that can be told. So many people have great, beautiful stories in them, and so many people don’t have the opportunity that we do to share those stories with the world, or even discover them in the first place. So I want to do something, to give back in a small way that can maybe, eventually, add up to something great.

I’ve wanted to do this for a while now because giving back to the community is something extremely important to me, and even though I don’t have a flashy charity auction to offer, I thought I could try something simple. I hope it will make a difference, no matter how small, to someone, somewhere.

And so, through the month of January only, I will be “selling” brief, one-page short stories written (which I write) for $5 each. All of the proceeds will go to First Book, a charity to promote literacy among children. “First Book provides access to new books for children in need. To date, First Book has distributed more than 85 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families…” Of course, I am by no means a professional writer and these stories I write will not be anywhere near the best ever written, but they’re just my little way to thank you for giving back. The stories will most likely be YA fiction of some sort–and they’ll probably be pretty weird–although I’ll try to mix things up a bit. They will all be kept PG, too. I will be writing three each day throughout the month of January and each story I send will be unique, unless more than 93 people participate. You may buy multiple stories, too, if you like.

To participate, go here to the charity’s website, click “Donate Now,” which is the top banner on the right, select your preferred payment option, and donate $5. It takes less than two minutes. Then, you should receive a receipt of your donation via email. Please forward it to me as proof (but please delete out all of the billing information, or any other personal information, in the reply) at jhansenauthor(at)gmail(dot)com, with the subject line, “Charity Story,” and if you want, tell me what genre of story you’d like me to write for you. If you donate more than $5, I will write you a second story, too.

If, for some reason, you donate but don’t get a receipt, please let me know via the same email address and subject line. Also, if you’re a minor and don’t have a credit card or Paypal account, ask your parents. I’m sure they’d be willing to chip in. Please note: it may take me a while to send you a story, depending on how many people participate, but you will get one by the end of the month no matter what. I’ll also try and send confirmations that I received your email.

I guess, in the end, my goal for this is that in some way or another, we help make a difference. And the beauty of it is, whether 3 or 100 people participate, this will still be a success, because someone, somewhere, will have their lives improved, will have the opportunity to read, to enjoy the stories we enjoy, and maybe even to write their own one day.

Anyway, I really hope all of you will participate since it takes only $5, but if not, I’m sure you’re giving back in some way, and I thank you for it. As far as I know, you can participate even if you live outside the U.S., just do the money conversion (or Google can do it for you).

Happy New Year, guys. And thank you. Thank you so much. Let’s make someone’s dream come true.

UPDATE: Aaaah!!! Leigh Ann Kopans, an amazing YA writer who you should follow right this instant, has agreed to match every $5 for up to 20 stories!

2012 Roundup + Giveaway!

(Guys, I have a different sort of post planned for tomorrow, and it’s something pretty important to me, so I’d appreciate it if you all could check it out. )

Warning: this contains a lot of information about me, and information about me has been known to get boring, frightening, and/or burn your eyes out. If you’re just here for the giveaway, you can skip to the end.

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Oh 2012.

You have been incredibly awesome to me. It doesn’t necessarily feel that way, I know, but when I look back on where I was in early January, it’s amazing how far I’ve come. (I can sense you all rolling your eyes already. Here comes the bragging.) I was, let’s be honest, pretty clueless back then, and in just a year, I feel so much more knowledgeable about books, about writing, about publishing. To the point where I feel like I can give decent advice and help people, when a year ago, I was the one who had only a very vague idea of how this whole writing and publishing thing works. I’m going to attribute this jump in knowledge to the literal hours each day (I FEEL YOUR JUDGEMENT) I spent reading blog posts, reading critiques of other’s works and getting critiqued myself, reading Publisher’s Lunch and publishing discussions, and researching publishers and agents (okay, maybe a little bit more to the point of stalking. But in an innocent way! I swear!) and learning what to do and what not to do when writing. Also, you can add reading and beta-reading to all of that. But more than just the above, 2012 was a successful year for me because I met amazing people online and learned from them. Every blog post, every tweet taught me something, and just listening to what all of you have to say has gotten me so far. So thank you, writing community, for being awesome.

And now we’re to the part where I brag about what I accomplished this 2012. Quick! Close your eyes! Cover your ears! Don’t let me win!

- I discovered John Green. Okay, so this is not bragging, but SERIOUSLY guys, how come no one got me hooked on John Green before this year?! And I don’t just mean his books–I love them too, of course, but I can also understand how you wouldn’t–but his YouTube channel and his personality and everything. Vlogbrothers, in which he vlogs with his brother Hank, is basically the greatest thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve spent an unhealthy amount of time watching his videos. They’re not only fun but they’re enlightening and weird and OHMYGAWSH SO GOOD. Anyway. *coughs* *puts on professional face*

- I met awesome people. This has got to be my highlight of 2012, if anything. Seriously. It sounds kind of pathetic, I know (I FEEL YOUR JUDGEMENT AGAIN), that I made friends with people who exist only in my phone–rumor has it they’re real or something, but I don’t buy it–but honestly, this online writing/publishing community is the greatest. It has definitely been the greatest part of my year. All of your support and advice and jokes have been amazing, and I appreciate all of you, and that I have the opportunity to do this, to follow my passions, because a lot of people don’t have that opportunity. You guys make writing less difficult and stressful. It is definitely a more interesting process with the internet involved, but interesting is good. Interesting is fun. So to all of my critique partners and people-I-beta-for and online friends: I’m just so glad to have met all of you. You are beyond great.

- I got my remote agent internship. And I am SO GLAD and SO THANKFUL for it. I’m incredibly lucky to have the opportunity.

- I beta-read a ton of manuscripts. I don’t know how many manuscripts in total I beta-read, but it’s at least twice as much as I read normal published books. Yeah. I know. I’m crazy.

- I finished my second novel, also known as my first not-totally-sucky novel. Yeah, pretty much says it all. I guess all of that time spent writing and critiquing and reading about writing paid off in the end, at least sort of. I also got my first R&R from an agent! (Revise & resubmit, for those who do not know.) Woohoo!

And then a ton of other things happened, like me becoming an author assistant, getting my first ARC, etc. but I’m currently on 12 a.m. brain so I can’t remember all of them. But regardless, thank you all for such a great year.

Looking forward to 2013, I have a few small goals:

- Spend less time on the internet. I know, I KNOW, but this has become a problem, guys.

- Write more. This year, I hope to start and complete two novels on top of my current rewrite. Can I do it? We shall see.

- Blog more. I was a blogging fail this 2012. Let’s fix this.

- Querying. This is the part where I’d put my goal of getting an agent this 2013, but I don’t know, I’m not sure if I’m there yet. Instead, my resolution is to finish a book I am truly proud of, revise it to the best of my ability, write an awesome query for it, and send it off. Even if it gets no agent bites, I still want to be proud of what I did.

- Make at least $10. Okay, so this is a weird goal, but I’d like to be able to profit from either writing or editing this year. Maybe sell a short story to a paying magazine, or maybe freelance edit for someone–I feel like, from all of my beta-reading, I’ve become a pretty good editor. I don’t actually care about the money, of course, but I want to feel legitimate, you know? (Translation: I’m weird. Just go with it.)

I think writing/publishing-wise, 2011 was, for me, about experimenting and experiencing and getting my feet wet with “all of this.” 2012 has been my learning year, where I’ve gone from a pretty-horrible-and-clueless writer to a decent-and-actually-pretty-knowledgeable writer. And I’m hoping, that if the pattern is followed, 2013 will be my breakout year. But even if it isn’t, I know it’ll rock anyway.

In the end, 2012 was great. 2013 will be even better.

Giveaway!

And to celebrate the great year/even better coming year, I’m giving away eBook copies of three 2012 books. The books:

An eBook copy of SHADOW & BONE by Leigh Bardugo

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An eBook copy of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green

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An eBook copy of CRUSHED by Dawn Rae Miller.

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Since Rafflecopter is mean and refuses to post in WordPress, click here to enter the giveaway.

Note: if you win a book you don’t want/already own/you’re outside the U.S. for winning the ARC, please let me know and I’ll select a new winner.

So, what books are you looking forward to in 2013?

A Blog of Pictures

(Side note: that first page critique opportunity I posted about got 80+ entries! Woot! But I spent all of yesterday critiquing… and I only critiqued thirty of those entries. So it might be until the end of the week for me to finish all of them.)

I’ve been noticing that a lot of people are stressed out recently–and for good reason. In both the publishing industry and the real world, it’s been a long week. Plus, writers are starting to hear back from agents/small presses now, agents are starting to hear back from editors, and editors are totally swamped, all of which creates a whole new level of anxiety. So I’m going to do an all-funny-pictures post to hopefully brighten your moods. You know. For science.

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(Image via Tom Gauld. #9 on the slide.)

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(Image via GraphJam.com)

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(Image via Tom Gauld. At the bottom of the linked page.)

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(Image via the Writing Problems Tumblr. Side note: read that whole Tumblr if you’re writer.)

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(Image via Jim C. Hines)

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And for anyone who needs it, my gentle reminder: YOU. ARE. AWESOME.

In Which I Critique All The Things

Short version: I’m critiquing the first page of any interested YA (or MG*) writers. Scroll to the end for details!

Long version: Today is the day–the Big Day–where all of the Pitch Wars mentees (why do I want to say manatees?) are revealed. For some, the result will be OHMYGAWSH so exciting. For others… not so much. But to all of those who didn’t make it: there were over one thousand entries. It was impossible to choose just three, because they were all so good. So not making it doesn’t mean anything about your writing. YOU. ALL. ROCK. (Also, subjectivity.)

Anyway, the mentors were awesome and gave personalized feedback to every entry. (Go, thank them for their awesomeness if you haven’t already!) I, however, was not so awesome. I didn’t critique entries sent to me. In my defense, I didn’t have the time. (Translation: I probably could have done them, but I was LAZY.) I do feel bad about this, though, and since I have time time this weekend, I thought: why don’t I do a bunch of critiques? And then I remembered Taryn Albright‘s critique opportunity from a few weeks ago, and so here I am, doing something similar. I am not as qualified as Taryn is, but hopefully my critique will mean something to you. (You can read my “about me” to see qualifications.) So, more officially:

This Saturday, I’m critiquing first pages. This is open to any and all YA writers. (MG writers, I love you and I can try to critique you if you like, but I don’t feel as qualified with MG.) Pitch Wars people, this will hopefully make up for my lack of critiques. Other equally-awesome people, you do not need to have entered Pitch Wars to send in your first page. It also does not matter whether or not you’re agented, or whether it’s only a first draft, or third draft, or its completely polished. I’ll critique any YA first page.

However, I won’t necessarily do a line-by-line. My one goal is to honestly (so if you only want a cheerleader, please don’t enter) tell you whether or not I’d read on. (Which, as a side note, is a hugely-important question that is not very often critiqued for.) In some cases that may involve a line-by-line; in many others, however, it will just be a paragraph detailing why I would, or would not, read on. Also, please don’t attach a query or pitch of some sort. See, I’m a strong believer that people put too much stress on queries and not enough on pages, because in the end, it’s only the pages that matter, right? (Don’t get me wrong; queries are VERY important, but pages trump query.)

Just a quick note: remember that this is very a subjective. So while I may not like something for certain reasons, others may love it for equally valid reasons, or vice versa. Please please please keep that in mind and take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Anyway, HOW TO ACTUALLY GET THE SHINY (OR NOT SHINY) CRITIQUES:

Email your first page–and JUST your first page–in the body of the email to JHansenAuthor(at)gmail(dot)com with the subject line “Critique.” You can send it in starting now and ending on Saturday, 12/15.  I will be doing the actual critiques all day Saturday (12/15) and tweeting general advice with the hashtag #JohnCrits, so check in there every so often if you feel inclined. If I get more than fifty entries, though, I’ll critique (and tweet!) through Sunday.

But like any contest, there have to be shiny prizes, right? RIGHT. So I’ll select my top five entries and have them submit their first ten pages. Of those, I’ll choose one favorite and critique their full manuscript! Woot! (Or if you don’t want my critique, I give you permission to ninja stare. I know, I KNOW, you totally needed my permission first.)

Hopefully my critique will be helpful to YA writers, because you get the perspective of an intern + beta-reader for published authors + other things, as well as that of a teen. (Except, I don’t critique as a teen; I critique as someone who has an eye for critiquing, but who can also pick out when something is non-teen-like.)

RANDOM, UNSUBTLE SELF-PROMO-UTILIZING-GUILT THING: As you know I’m doing all of these for free. And that’s okay, because I want to do this, but anything you can do to spread the word would be much appreciated–and also a great way to show your thanks. *wink wink nudge nudge* (I know, how did I even get so unsubtle??)

Let me know if you have any questions!

That Thing About Subjectivity

There’s one type of rejection that brings fear to the minds of all writers, that makes us scream at the top our lungs, that haunts our worst nightmares. And that rejection goes something like this:

“I really enjoyed reading your manuscript, but I’m not the right agent for it.” Or, “I really enjoyed reading your manuscript, but I just didn’t fall in love with.”

I know. I know. It seems so cruel, because can’t they just tell us what’s wrong with it? If it was so perfect, why are they passing??

But here’s the thing: this type of rejection is Not Bad.

As I’ve been learning throughout the past months of interning and just reading the slush at Pitch Wars, subjectivity is present everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. I read tons of awesome-sounding manuscripts in Pitch Wars, for example, with evidence of strong writing and a great story–but many of them just weren’t for me.

There is no real reason for this, either. Yes, in some cases I had my own subjectivity-related issues, but a number of the submissions I passed on were great, with both undeniably strong writing and concepts. In some cases I even recognized there was something great there–and I can’t wait for an agent to pick it up in the coming months. So why did I pass? Sometimes the idea, although interesting, was not something I was as excited about as I wanted to be. Or maybe, it was simply because I didn’t feel like I’d be much of a help mentoring a book with X idea, because a) I felt it stretched out of my line of experience and b) I did not feel as passionate about it as I should. And in an agent’s case, many of those “not for me” rejections mean either a) the plot of book is something that the particular agent doesn’t feel confident selling it for whatever reason–probably because it’s outside his/her area of expertise, but the agent knows that someone else may be able to sell it. Or b) the agent recognized there was something there, but he or she simply didn’t fall in love with it.

And that’s thing: falling in love with it. You want to fall in love with a manuscript. You want to feel passionate about it. And sometimes even when you know something is great, you don’t fall in love with it. And that is OKAY.

So yes, some of you who submitted to me will get that dreaded “This isn’t for me” or “I didn’t fall in love with it” reply. But you know what? It’s a compliment. Really. I get that you hate it. I get that it sucks. But it doesn’t mean you suck. So no matter how horrible those rejections may seem, no matter how much they may tear at your confidence, remember they are not given to everyone. Remember that the agent, that the mentor, truly does think you have something great here.

One day, you will find the right agent for your manuscript. And one day, you will look back on those “I didn’t fall in love with it” rejections, and you will be so appreciative it happened the way it did.