Karen Sandler

Category: Books

  • Oh, Microsoft Word, How I Love and Hate You

    This week, YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday prompt is, What word processing program do you use to write your manuscript, and can you share one handy trick you’ve learned in that program that has helped you while you write?

    As you’ve probably guessed from the emblem to the left, I use Microsoft Word (on a PC). And from the title of this post, you might have inferred that Word and I have a bit of an uneasy relationship.

    You might think that my issues with Word arise from my being one of those writers who’s computer-phobic, more comfortable writing longhand or on a typewriter. Ah…no. I was thrilled to give the typewriter the old heave-ho when we bought our first home computer in 1983 (a Kaypro II running WordStar). I’d been working as a software engineer for six years by then, and had an MS in computer science from UCLA. So I had (and still have) strong opinions about how intuitive a software user interface should be (very intuitive, IMHO). Yes, Word remains a very powerful tool for word processing (I’m a thousand times more productive using Word than I was at a typewriter). I do continue to use it, but I confess that at times I wish it were a live thing so I could give it a good, hard poke.

    Taking a calming breath now. As much as I use Word and appreciate its functionality, I do wonder how people with no computer background cope with some of Word’s, shall we say, less intuitive features. For instance, when I’m working on my first draft, I like to write my chapters as individual files, then stitch them together into one big file when I’m ready to edit. To accomplish that, I first do a SaveAs for my first chapter (or prologue), naming it something like Awakening draft. Then I scroll to the end of that chapter and insert a section break using Page Layout/Breaks/Next Page. I then go into the header so I can turn off Link to Previous. My running headers include the chapter number, and if I don’t turn off Link to Previous, the chapter number in the header for the new chapter will be the same as the previous one. Then I use the Insert/Object/Text from file to drop in the text of the next chapter. I run through this process for each chapter until I have the complete manuscript.

    Easy-Peasy, right? You followed all that, didn’t you? I guess you would if you already knew how to do it, but if you didn’t, you might be a bit at sea tracking my instructions. And this process has changed slightly with each new version of Word.

    I’ll tell you something I really do like about Word, though–tables. I use them for everything from organizing my agent submissions, to keeping track of my page/word count (both on a daily/weekly basis and overall count), to chapter outlines, to worldbuilding. Here is a nifty table I used to develop some of the backstory in Tankborn:

    Loka Population

    So, yes, I have a love-hate relationship with Microsoft Word. And yes, I often rant and rave about it to my poor beleaguered husband. But please, don’t make me work without it. 🙂

  • RTW – My Favorite Book I Had to Read for School

    Today YA Highway‘s blog prompt for Road Trip Wednesday is What’s your favorite book you had to read for a class? First of all, school of any kind was a mighty long time ago for me. We did have books back then. Yes, they were paper bound between covers, not on papyrus scrolls. But it’s a little hard for me to remember which books I read for pleasure, and which ones I might have been assigned to read.

    But I did happen to read quite a wide range of books in 10th grade. We had the best English teacher ever, Mrs. Luckensmeyer. She was definitely a factor in me becoming a writer. One of our weekly assignments was to fill two pages in our composition books (front and back of the two pages), which really inspired my creativity.

    I also loved how she had us do book reports. We were free to pick any book we liked from the school library. After reading it, we would hand it over to her in a one-on-one session. She would then flip through it and ask random questions about the book.

    Okay, this would probably be terrifying for those students who never actually read the book. You couldn’t fake one of Mrs. Luckensmeyer’s book reports, like you could if you did it in written format and referred to Cliff’s Notes. But I thought her book reports were great. (Did I mention I was kind of a teacher’s pet?)

    So I read some pretty interesting books. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, for instance. And the one that I think was my favorite of the ones I read in her class because it was just so darn weird.

    Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis. I remember it being a little horrifying (a guy wakes up transformed into a cockroach!), a little gross (the guy is injured and starts turning all gooey and pus-filled!), and a little (a lot) bizarre (who turns into a cockroach anyway?).

    Not the usual kind of book a 14-year-old reads. But at that point in my life, I was choosing books by their title. The title was cool, so I grabbed it off the shelf.

    I later read plenty of classics–Dracula and Frankenstein, most of Mark Twain, plenty of science fiction and fantasy. But Kafka’s Metamorphosis has stuck with me all these years. It still gives me a chill just thinking about that man-to-cockroach transformation.

    So how about you? What favorite books do you remember fromschool? Creepy, wonderful, heart-wrenching? Have you read them since, and do they hold up? Let me know in the comments.

  • RTW – Best Book in August

    Yikes! August is nearly over, so YA Highway‘s blog prompt asks, What was the best book you read in August? I say Yikes! because this being August 29th, I only have three more days until a book deadline. Remember that giant, evil Stay Puft marshmallow man from Ghostbusters? Imagine him as August 31st, and you’ll get an idea of how that deadline is starting to feel to me. Minus the sticky-sweet white stuff.

    Anyway, I digress (I digress a lot in my blog, don’t I?). My favorite book in August is a bit of a challenge since it’s really more a series I’ve been reading. That is, a certain subset of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series. Back in July, my son and daughter-in-law stayed with us a week between when they moved out of their apartment and when we all went back east to help them move into their new home. Near the end of that week, my son recommended this particular set of Vokosigan books. He knows what I like in SF/fantasy (great characters), and I think Bujold is da bomb, so I started downloading the sub-series to my Kindle, starting with Memory.

    As I read Memory, I quickly figured out that I really ought to read another book, Mirror Dance, before reading Memory. So I put Memory aside, and started reading Mirror Dance. Then, partway into Mirror Dance, I realized that, strictly speaking, I should read Brothers in Arms before reading Mirror Dance. Ack! I consulted my son, who said he’d never read Brothers in Arms, but enjoyed the rest of the sub-series anyway. So I forged ahead, deciding that I’d go back at some point and pick up Brothers in Arms.

    So, in the latter half of July and all through August, I’ve read (in this order), Mirror Dance, Memory, Komarr, and am just about to finish A Civil Campaign. Apparently, a novella which I’d read some time ago, “Winterfair Gifts,” follows A Civil Campaign, so I guess I was already out of order. Roberts would frown.

    So, favorite book? Although I’ve loved all of these (and am really glad my son recommended them), I’d say Komarr is my favorite. It features a very cool mystery subplot within a fantastically well-developed science fiction setting. And it sets up the final book, A Civil Campaign, splendidly.

    If you haven’t checked out Lois McMaster Bujold, I highly recommend her. She’s a master of character, complex world-building, and intricate plot. She handles science fiction and fantasy with equal skill. Her Sharing Knife and Chalion series are simply wonderful.

    Sigh. I guess I better get back to work. Stay Puft is leering at me from the corner of my office. Is that a whip in his hand?

  • RTW – My L-O-V-E List

    When I saw this blog topic on YA Highway‘s Road Trip Wednesday, the old TV show The Love Boat immediately came to mind. In fact, if you remember that show, you have to read the title of this post the same way the announcer did on the show.

    But I digress. The idea for the love list in this context comes from this blog post. In Stephanie Perkins’s post, she describes how she starts a new project by writing a list of all the reasons she loves her story. As she goes, Stephanie adds details to her list. YA Highway invites us to do the same about our own story.

    In my case, I am in the throes of a re-write of Awakening, book 2 of the Tankborn series. Maybe I should spell it throws because there have been moments I’ve been tempted to throw the computer across the room. My occasional fits of writer pique aside, the re-write is actually going smashingly well (which has nothing to do with me wanting to smash my computer) and there are plenty of things I like about the story.

    So, my love list:

    great characters
    very cool world
    wonderful creatures
    fun revisit
    exciting plot twists
    deeper look
    secrets and revelations
    set up for book 3

    These are off the top of my head and maybe aren’t as specific as they’re supposed to be. I guess I want to keep some stuff close to the vest since the book doesn’t come out until spring 2013. But there have been many cool surprises with this book, with characters doing things I never expected they would. So I am actually having a lot of fun with it.

    So, who do you love? Let’s hear about your own love list.

  • #LA12SCBWI – Day 3

    A day that started great, including a killer chocolate mousse for lunch dessert, then got a little weird on the way home (an accident that trapped me and hundreds of other motorists for an hour on Highway 99). The conference part of things was fab, though. I took notes at the agent panel and the social networking workshop. Because of our 7 hour drive home (which turned into 8 due to the accident), my son and I left during the awards lunch. But here’s what I did see:

    Alongside moderator Lin Oliver (LO), far left, our agent panel included (l to r), Jill Corcoran (JC) from the Herman Agency, Deborah Warren (DW) from East West Literary Agency, Linda Pratt (LP) from Warnick & Pratt, and Josh Adams (JA) from Adams Literary. They all gave out submission information (which can be found on their website), and an overview of what they represent. The intros were followed by a Q&A period where Lin asked the questions. Refer to the agents’ initials to figure out who’s answering.

    • LO – What path would you recommend for unpublished authors?
    • JA – Be passionate, dedicate yourself to your craft, work on your voice, attend conferences, read a lot, know your audience, tell your story
    • LP – Realize your drive to create, then step into the business of publishing, learn how to query, who might be a good match for you, finish the book! If you get stuck on selling one project, move on to the next project
    • JA – Submit when you’re ready. Don’t be in such a hurry. Really do your homework, wait until you’re really ready. It needs to be highly polished. Do have a literary agent. Find a voice in an agent who will be an advocate for you
    • LP – find your own process, trust your voice
    • JC – Advice from when she did product marketing: to sell-through, you need to have a fabulous idea. Some folks don’t even read books. Come up with five concepts that you love and figure out the best one, look at the comp (comparable) books to make sure yours is different so you can say these are the comp books and this is how mine is different
    • LO – Comment on what you consider to be the strengths of the marketplace and where opportunities are for published & unpublished authors
    • JC – Re: dystopian, editors have so many, those books could compete with one another within the same house. But if yours is different, it could be marketed differently. Take your book with an overdone theme and change the setting/trope. (she jokingly said, Add a cyclops!)
    • LO – you can get rejected just because there’s no place for a book in a publisher’s list
    • JA – no call for cyclops books (in response to Jill). They look for timeless stories, want original voices, not derivative. The question isn’t can we sell it, but do we love it. If we love it, we will find a way. PB (picture books) have been a challenge but still there have been a lot coming out. Need character-driven PB. In MG & YA (middle grade and young adult), you need both literary & high concept, something beyond the stock characters.
    • DW – regarding chasing trends, when you sell your novel, you’ll work on it with an editor 6 mos-year, then the publisher needs 14 mos for marketing. Which means the trend will have passed.
    • JA – write the best book you can
    • DW – Be aware of the digital space, creating content for it, publishers are particularly interested in author/illustrators
    • LO – How is what’s expected of a creative person different now than before
    • JA – so many more demands, authors can’t just sit and write, need to be plugged in on social media, promote, go to school visits, esp. for series fiction, some authors are shy, but they have to find a way to promote their books
    • JC – you have to be marketing and writing. Writing comes first. Some authors are writing 2 books a year.
    • LP – Your sales track, Bookscan has only 70-75% of the total sales (some agents felt it was a much smaller percentage), but everybody looks at it, you have to be more pragmatic about that first book
    • JA – Publishing houses aren’t being as patient with a first book. When they speak to an author they love, they want to know what the author is interested in writing next.
    • LP – She has recently been in the position where a client did okay with first two tween books, went to another house for a third (completely different) book
    • JA – It’s sometimes easier to be a debut, tough for an author who has modest sales. You need to have realistic expectations
    • LO – It goes back to being marketers for our book, some mid-list authors being asked to publish a new book under a pseudonym
    • JC – Jill had a problem with the above (publishing under a pseudonym), but the author didn’t have that issue. She just considered it a professional choice.
    • LO – what are common mistakes that you see people doing, pitfalls to be avoided (e.g., writing a book, then sitting back on their laurels)
    • DW – There’s a strategy, an agent can help, placing your second book is just as important as your first book. Illustrators—there’s been a focus on finding any job rather than the one that’s best for your career
    • JC – Illustrators need to make career decisions, even authors will do write-for-hire and not get their own books done
    • JA – you need to be professional, worst thing a client can do is close possibilities by doing things that impact your career
    • JC –  There have been people she didn’t take on as clients, they were not behaving well online, e.g., they were dissing editors. Untag yourself from incriminating photos. Why do we have to say everything we feel online?
    • LO – Is this the highest and best use of your time — we should be earning money
    • JA – historically the advance was living expenses for the year you work. Yes you can expect $ but don’t do it for the money.

    I had to leave the agent panel early, so I’m afraid I might have missed some good stuff on money.

    After the agent panel, in my morning workshop, Greg Fishbone (Galaxy Games), Jay Asher (13 Reasons Why), and Greg Neri (Yummy, Ghetto Cowboy) shared secrets of social networking in The Class of 2K7. “The Class of” was a concept developed for debut authors to team up for promotional purposes. In the case of 2K7, these were authors whose first book came out in 2007. Others have carried on the concept, each group branding themselves uniquely.

    I didn’t always note who said what, but here are some rough notes:

    • Social networking before the book comes out improves pre-sales (Jay)
    • We can’t all be John Green
    • You can’t do every social networking opportunity
    • Branding is important (various messages for the 2k debut authors)
    • Some of the power is not just social networking with the outside world, but with your group such as SCBWI
    • Do group tours
    • After that year experience (with Class of 2K7), how would they grow as individuals
    • Talking about online presence, how do you use your website
    • Greg N’s is a one-stop shop
    • Jay has a blog on Blogger rather than a website, uses tabs to offer additional info
    • Greg Fishbone has multiple sites
    • You need to control the Google search as much as you can so people can get the information about who you are before someone else pigeonholes you
    • When you craft your answer to interviews, craft them carefully
    • In interviews, Jay gives one answer that isn’t really true (e.g., 13 Reasons Why pop-up book)
    • You may need to change your image (from penguins to SF in Greg Fishbone’s case). His Galaxy Games site is space oriented
    • Watch your image, but really be yourself, the Internet is forever
    • Be aware of your online presence, of how people perceive you
    • How you talk about your books online can sound like you’re bragging, or being pushy
    • Publisher wanted Jay to every day do something to promote, but he wasn’t comfortable with what the publisher wanted him to do. So he tweaked it to be more comfortable with the suggestion.
    • Don’t be afraid to try something new
    • Differences between marketing YA and MG: YA you can go directly to the reader, but MG there are usually gatekeepers like teachers and librarians