IRE has a new title: Rise of the Mages. It also has a new form: Ahhh! It's real! Fifteen year old me would have been blown away to see my name (pseudonym, at least) on a Tor book, even an advance copy. Hell, 31 year old me is pretty blown away. My editor, Jen Gunnels, … Continue reading Rise of the Mages
The Business of Writing
The Write Life
I'm not entirely comfortable writing about my own life, my own family, but I write this for a few reasons: The life of an author is often romanticized, and I think people should understand what it's really like (at least for me). I'm in a pretty awesome situation in life, and still the creative struggle … Continue reading The Write Life
Ire Has a Home
I finally signed a contract. Ire will be the first book of a trilogy written for Tor. The first book is tentatively scheduled to be published in late 2020, and the other two books will follow shortly thereafter. Working with Tor is something of a dream come true for me. I grew up reading a … Continue reading Ire Has a Home
Elements of a Query Letter
Hey people - I'm part of a query workshop at LTUE on Friday at 10 AM. I'm putting this post together primarily as reference material for that event, but it should be useful for anyone putting a query letter together.
The Query That Worked
Hey. I should have done this long since, but I thought I'd post (most of) the successful query letter that I sent to Matt last year. I know that when I was putting together the query for the book that I've worked so hard on, finding query letters that were successful (especially recent ones) was … Continue reading The Query That Worked
Finishing Books and Other Stuff I Like
I just finished my book... again. There will be plenty of tweaks to make still, but I'm starting to look forward to when my agent will submit the manuscript to publishers. It may still be quite a ways out depending on how we feel about the current state, and there's no way to know how it will … Continue reading Finishing Books and Other Stuff I Like
Agent Success – Matt Bialer
Mr. Matt Bialer from SJGA will be representing my first novel, IRE. I am elated to be working with him, as he's the agent I've targeted from the very beginning. An awkward 2 minute conversation back in 2013 was the turning point that led me here. The story begins way back in 2012 when I got … Continue reading Agent Success – Matt Bialer
Literary Agents and Why I Want One
At a very basic level, literary agents take a 15% cut of the amount their authors make in exchange for selling your book to a publisher. They should have the contacts to make that happen. Essentially, they are gate keepers for the publishers. But that’s not all! They’ll typically handle the funds coming from a publisher, negotiate contracts, … Continue reading Literary Agents and Why I Want One
Book Progress…10 months Later. Revising/editing process, and so on.
Well. For the 20 or so of you who have read my previous posts and are reading this, I regret to inform you that didn't meet my goal of having a manuscript sent to agents by the end of 2013.I have a bunch of awesome excuses as to why, but the most relevant reason I use … Continue reading Book Progress…10 months Later. Revising/editing process, and so on.
500 Pages (125,000 Words)
Well, “Life” happened, and my writing pace has slowed down considerably. Not so long ago, I had hoped to be done with not only the first draft of my manuscript by now, but with my preliminary edits as well. I had hoped to have the manuscript in the hands of a few trusted alpha readers. … Continue reading 500 Pages (125,000 Words)
Scott Drakeford 