So, despite the fact that until Thursday, I hadn’t written anything for the better part of a month, I don’t feel too bad. Because I have written over 70,000 words already this year. (Cf. the top word counter over there on the right — the one labeled MG — which is ALL ORANGE, plus “Errant” which never did get a word counter, and I don’t feel so bad about that.) And I did two rounds of revisions on the aforementioned MG.

(BTW, MG in this case does NOT stand for middle grade. People keep asking me that. Carrie asked me that, which I thought was especially weird, since she actually knows what it stands for.)

I’m still busy, though. I expect I’ll be getting some revisions on “Errant” and possibly a bit more work to be done on MG, not to mention the 1st pass of Ascendant that showed up here yesterday morning and is due at the end of the week. Like, today, before I can do any work on this new project (codename: PAP) I need to look into these first page proofs, put together a quick project proposal, and finish up the Rampant paperback extra content (yes, owners of the Rampant paperback get fantastic and exclusive extra content, including, but not limited to, an excerpt from Ascendant. Not to mention take Rio for a walk. Rio has been sorely neglected recently.

But I’m glad to have started PAP, and I’m really, really excited about the direction I’ve decided to take it in.

In other “life of the freelance writer” news, I really love getting surprise royalties. I say “surprise” because at this point in my career, most of my projects are just starting to earn out, so it’s still a new thing for me for royalty statements to come with checks attached. When I talk to writers who have been around for a lot longer than me, they do count their royalties as a larger and larger percentage of their income, and I know more than a few writers whose living expenses are entirely paid for by “evergreen” items on their backlists, which… wow, that just sounds like a dream come true.

Right now, the way I get to keep this job is by getting new work. I got two new contracts in January that will keep me employed for a while. As I said before, I have four all-new projects (two books, two short stories) coming out in 2010 (plus the Rampant paperback). And those are all parts of contracts that I signed anywhere from 2007 to 2010. In some cases, I was paid for those projects back in 2007. In other cases, I haven’t been paid yet.

I share this because I know there are a lot of writers and aspiring writers who read this blog, and they are curious about how the money part works. I think, in the beginning of your career, it’s important not to depend on royalties, and to really figure out WHEN you are going to get the various portions of your advance when you are planning out your work and your ability to go freelance.

For instance, say you have decided that your budget is $30k per year, and you can net $10k (i.e., after agent commission, taxes, and business expenses — or, just to make the math easy, let’s say we live in a world where those things don’t exist) for a book you wrote. So you think to yourself, “Easy, I’ll write three books.”

Au contraire, my friend.

Because you usually only get half of that advance upon signing a contract for those books (and some houses are going to thirds “upon signing”). So let’s say you do get a three book deal (in this magical world where there’s no agents, taxes, or business expenses) at $10k per book. You get the contract (anywhere from a few days to a few months later — and if you think I’m joking about the few months part, I know people who have waited a year on their contracts), and sign it and send it in and get your “upon signing check” — for $15k. Because 1/2(10k per book) x three books = $15,000.

Then, if you’re lucky, the D&A (delivery and acceptance) date for the first book is that same year (again, I know writers who get their D&A at the same time as their on signing check, because of contract delays), for what is sneaking into a lot of contracts lately, which is 1/4 of the remaining advance (and then another fourth on actual publication). So there’s $2,500.

So your total for year one of selling a three book deal for $10k per book is: $17,500.

In year two, you turn in book two, and see the publication of book 1. Total payments: $5000.

In year three, the same, for publishing book 2 and writing book 3: $5,000

In year four, you get your last little “on publication” check: $2,500.

And if you’re lucky, you do earn out right away and get royalties. But you can’t really count on that. And you never know when the earn out’s going to happen. It might happen right away. It might take four years. It might never happen.* So your $30,000 book deal takes four years to pay out.

You can also be lucky and get a compressed publication schedule, where they put all your books out the same year. But that’s pretty much up to the publisher to decide. and if that happens, what will also likely happen is that the publication of your first book is pushed WAY back in the schedule to give you time to write book 2 and 3. Whereas usually you might only have 12 months between D&A and publication, it might be 18 or 24 for book 1, and then only 14 for book 2 and 8 for book 3.

Oh, and you can’t cheat the system and “write quick.” So if your publisher has said that the D&A date for Book 1 is January 1, 2011, and then 1/1/12 for book 2 and 1/1/13 for book three, you can’t turn them all in in 2011 and expect to get paid for all of them. That’s why it’s D *and* A — they have to accept it. And they usually won’t until they are contracted to.

And there are other ways to make up the difference, for instance:

1. write and sell something else to make up the difference.
2. make more money from the things you sell (getting higher advances, selling subsidary rights, charging speaker fees to talk about the work).
3. have an alternate income from old projects (this is where those royalties come in handy, or putting your out of print backlist on kindle).
4. have another job.
5. be of independent means.

Some of these things are easier to control than others. Most writers I know manage by mixing up all of the above. And sometimes you don’t even know they are doing it. That writer you know who has two books out a year? You don’t know if she’s ghost writing on the side, or doing copywriting or other freelance work that her name isn’t attached to.

You don’t know if I’m doing that.

______________

* Please note: If it never happens, you do NOT have to pay the publisher back. That is a myth. Also, it does NOT mean that you will never again get another contract. Also a myth.

So New York Times Bestseller Carrie Ryan and I had an awesome weekend of eating, lounging around on the couch, brainstorming, and watching movies that reminded us of our books. It was half writing retreat, half slumber party.

Rio was utterly charmed by Carrie, and vice versa. I mean, I know she doesn’t look too thrilled in this picture, but Carrie’s more than making up for it, don’t you think? Trust me, Rio loved Carrie like only a “curl up on the guest bed, roll over and whine until Carrie rubbed her tummy all morning” little brat could.

Quoth Carrie: “She’s so little! She’s so compact! She’s like the mini-cooper of dogs!”

This is what happens when you’re usually living with an 85 lb. rottie mix. Don’t you worry, Rio. I think you’re the perfect size.

And then yesterday, we drove up to Baltimore to attend Carrie’s launch. In Carrie’s tour packet, it said “your friend will drive you up to Baltimore” and I am not one to disobey the mandates of the Random House publicity team.

Fortunately, it was a lovely day out, and we had lunch down by the Harbor, overlooking the Constellation. It was so beautiful, in fact, that Carrie found it problematic when she tried to turn on the air conditioning in her very sunny and warm (93 degrees!) hotel room only to discover it didn’t work. So she got ready for her launch party in an overheated hotel room filled with two hotel engineers and a phone call every 30 seconds from the front desk asking if the engineers were there fixing the problem. (”Yes.” “YES.” “YES.” “Please stop calling us, they’re here.”)

I pretended to be Carrie’s PA, which was especially funny when the wine and strawberries showed up.

Carrie, a model of grace under pressure, ended up looking fabulous in a swingy gray dress and coral jewelry, and off we jetted to her launch signing at The Children’s Bookstore. I’ve never been there before, but it’s fabulous! I really had to have a talking-to with myself before I bought every single picture book in the place. As it was, one of the booksellers kept getting me to buy new unicorn books I hadn’t read, like Birth of the Firebringer, by Meredith Anne Pierce.

Research! Research!

Carrie’s launch was lovely. There was a great crowd there. Zombie fans, fantasy fans, writers, — there were even some folks who’d made her launch signing in Greenville last year. Talk about commitment!

Carrie talked about zombies, about her childhood fear of Poltergeist, and about how she and I have diametrically opposed creative processes that occasionally drive each other to drink. (I’m a planner; she is not.) She signed stacks and stacks of books, including two that I’m giving away to you, dear reader.

SPEAKING OF GIVEAWAYS, I am having a problem, guys. You enter my giveaways, and then when I announce the winners, they never show up and email me. I have a STACK of books that I’m supposed to send out to winners who have never contacted me. Like the Heist Society winner from a few weeks back? No word. I even left a comment on her blog. What should I do? I can’t chase you guys down all the time, and honestly, given that I’m buying these books with my own money and sending them out with my own stamps, I kind of feel like I shouldn’t have to. Should I give you a period of time to get in touch with me and if you don’t, your prize is forfeited? (Then no doubt I draw a new winner who never gets in touch with me and the darn cycle stars all over again.)

Okay, now that that little housekeeping issue is off the table, onto the giveaway!

Today I’m giving away a copy of the New York Times bestselling paperback of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, signed by one New York Times Bestselling author Carrie Ryan. AND, a copy of the amazing companion novel, newly released in hardcover: The Dead-Tossed Waves. Also signed by the author. May or may not include a small smear of wasabi from when it was sitting on the table at the sushi restaurant where said author and I had dinner last night. It’s that authentic, y’all.

HOW YOU ENTER:

Leave a comment in this blog entry saying how you would react in the face of the zombie apocalypse. I will randomly select two entries. When I announce the winners, if you are a winner, email me with your choice of which book you want. First come, first served.

So I got back from having the worst manicure in the world with New York Times Bestseller Carrie Ryan to discover that word on the street is out about my new anthology, KISS ME DEADLY: 13 Tales of Paranormal Romance.

It’s the follow-up to last year’s THE ETERNAL KISS, which was an (awesome) book of (awesome) vampire stories. Except for our book is not (necessarily) about vampires, but about all kinds of paranormal shenanigans.

My story is about killer unicorns. I know, shocking, right? It’s also my first historical ever ever — or at least, since i tried my hand at a regency romance when I was 15 and mainlining Johanna Lindsay.

FWIW, “Errant” is NOTHING like Johanna Lindsay.

(ETA)
The full list of authors in the antho are:

Becca Fitzpatrick
Caitlin Kittredge
Karen Mahoney
Justine Musk
Daniel Marks
Diana Peterfreund
Sarah Rees Brennan
Michelle Rowen
Carrie Ryan
Maggie Stiefvater
Rachel Vincent
Daniel Waters
Michelle Zink

And I’m sure they’re stories are totally awesome too. Actually, I’ve read the story of New York Times Bestseller Carrie Ryan, and it is totally awesome.

Though really, I think they must have designed this cover especially for me. New York Times Bestseller Carrie is sitting across from me right now, and when she saw the cover she’s like “oh wow, they illustrated your story.”

Then we looked closer and realized it was supposed to be a ghost of a fairy wing, and not a veil, like it looks. Still, I am sticking with my story. Read Kiss Me Deadly, with a cover that illustrates “Errant,” which is an 18th century French feminist killer unicorn story about a nun and a bride and a forest full of monsters.

Yet none of them, I think, can possibly top the one I just received for Rampant. A snippet of its (two star) fabulosity:

“I felt as if the author is very self-impressed and narcissistic. Which I guess is fine until it permeates the writing. If you read the jacket cover - all about how wonderful and adventurous she is - and then realize she’s attempted to weave in the myth of Diana goddess of the hunt and that her name is Diana….well too much self homage for me. Nothing redeems this insipid tale.”

Finally, someone calls me out for making the magic system in my book something that was invented by a goddess whose name is the same as mine. I was wondering when that would happen.

Justine’s post is all about Jane Austen’s one star Amazon reviews for Pride & Prejudice. I haven’t read through them, but I sincerely hope that someone calls that chick out for naming her most beautiful Bennett sister Jane, not to mention that annoyingly perfect Jane Fairfax from Emma.

This month, I’ll be attending the New York City Teen Author Festival.

I will be appearing at the following festival events:

NYC Teen Author Festival Symposium

DATE: Friday, 3/19
LOCATION: New York Public Library, South Court, 42^nd Street
TIME:  2:10-3:00 P.M.

Using Genre to Tell the True Story of Adolescence

featuring: Judy Blundell, Sarah Beth Durst, Lauren McLaughlin, Diana Peterfreund, Sara Shepard, Maggie Stiefvater, and Robin Wasserman

Gee, guys. Wonder what I’m going to talk about.

There is also talk about an enormous Books of Wonder signing on Sunday, but I have to see how the ol’ body’s faring before I feel free to announce that part, too. I may have to back out.

See the entire schedule here.

Don’t worry, I’ve spared you.

So what have I been up to? I’ve been reading. RITA entries and Golden Heart entries, mostly. I’ve been watching old romantic comedies on DVD. French Kiss is better than I remember it being. Overboard is not. I think it’s possible I’m just much more creeped out by the slavery aspects in the latter than I was when I saw it a long time ago.

I’ve also been reading many fascinating things on the internet. And I’m here to share them with you.

Justine Larbalestier’s blog vacation has made for some truly amazing guest posts. One of my favorites is the fabulous Lauren McLaughlin on how having a baby made her look at her fiction-writing in a totally new way. I really love the way Lauren is always so honest and forthright about her development as an artist. I think there are a lot of writers out there that feed into the myth that they popped out of the box full-formed, but that’s not the case, and reading articles like Lauren’s inspire me to talk more about my development as a writer. It’s also an interesting post because I always read the Cycler character of Ramie as being a person of color. (I see Filipino, actually — anyone else?)

My other favorite Larbalesti-guest post is from my newest object of professional-crushdom, Varian Johnson, on time management. Have I mentioned how Varian, upon hearing that we’d be at the same conference, brought me a bookstore newsletter that had an article about me all the way from Austin? As if I wasn’t already crushing on him because of the awesomeness that was My Life as a Rhombus. To wit: Varian’s books rock, and so does Varian. And so does Varian’s post on how he manages to be a civil engineer and a writing professor AND a writer AND help his (drop-dead gorgeous–I met her at the aforementioned conference) wife pick out granite countertops on the weekend. And here I am with a messy house, a fridge full of chicken soup and jello, and no other job but writing. I feel like such a slacker.

Speaking of the hard-working and prolific, another blog post I liked a lot recently was Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s take on the hated prologue on the Red Room. Lauren writes in half a dozen genres (at last count) and is as big a  fan of the prologue as I am (her prologue count is 10/14, mine is 5/6). The prevailing opinion, however, is that one shouldn’t write prologues. Poppycock. What one should not write, under any circumstances, are bad beginnings, whether it’s labeled prologue, chapter 1, or nothing at all. (My prologues are rarely longer than a page, and are never labeled prologues.) For me, the prologues in my books that have prologues are all about setting a theme for exploration in the book, much like an epigraph of my own design.(Indeed, my only book that doesn’t have a prologue has an epigraph. So there.)

And, speaking of writing advice, a massive depository of such can be found in these two articles in the Guardian. It was interesting to read Elmore Leonard’s, which I either don’t agree with or disregard (perhaps to my detriment), especially given how much I always loved the advice I heard was his of “leave out the parts people skip.” However, apparently he wasn’t saying what I thought he was. I thought, you know, the boring bits. He thought, long paragraphs. Huh. I do like Roddy Doyle’s advice to give your work a name as soon as possible. I always find I work much better once I have a working title. It crystallizes my theme. Also, Geoff Dyer’s:

“Beware of clichés. Not just the ­clichés that Martin Amis is at war with. There are clichés of response as well as expression. There are clichés of observation and of thought – even of conception. Many novels, even quite a few adequately written ones, are ­clichés of form which conform to clichés of expectation.”

Which I think is very important for especially genre writers to remember. So often we fall into the trap of doing something because we believe (erroneously) that it’s expected by the readers. Have characters make the unexpected choice, have the unexpected reaction. Surprise the reader.

Richard Ford says, “Marry somebody you love and who thinks you being a writer’s a good idea.” That was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, so I’m right there with Ford. Sailor Boy has thought I should be a writer from the word go. He bought me tickets to my first writing conference. He’s always been one of my biggest supporters. In fact, I was on the phone with him today about a new direction in my career, and he was really pushing me forward. I’m extremely fortunate.

Hilary Mantel advises: “Write a book you’d like to read. If you wouldn’t read it, why would anybody else? Don’t write for a perceived audience or market. It may well have vanished by the time your book’s ready.” So true. I was doing an interview recently, which asked what I’d write if I didn’t have to worry about money. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be offended by that question. Because the answer is the same damn stuff I’m writing now. I write books I want to write, and books I’d like to read, and I always expect that I’m not the only one who feels that way. Yes, I get paid for projects, but I’ve also turned things down that were worth good money because I didn’t want to write them. I think you can feel that sort of thing in the writing. Write for yourself, and the rest will fall in line.

I also love everything Jeannette Winterson says. There’s a lot of good advice in these articles, and a lot I think is ehhhh, but, you know what they say about opinions.

What else have I been reading? Well, there’s this laughable suit going on against JK Rowling. Man, people will do anything for a buck, I think. And PublishAmerica, a vanity publishing house, is now telling their authors that they will submit their supposedly good-as-the-big-guys “published” book to Random House, because (this is my favorite part): “Every writer dreams about becoming a published author. Once they have reached that goal, as you have, many dream of the next step up: to become a Random House author. Random House is one of the most prestigious publishing names. Their extensive operation a few miles from our own headquarters makes them virtual neighbors.”

So apparently every published author’s dream is to become a Random House author? (Disclaimer: I actually am a Random House author, and happy about it.) But I know lots of writers who are perfectly happy not being Random House authors and, when given the choice, chose not to become Random House authors in favor of better contract terms at, say, Penguin or Little, Brown. The whole letter is worth reading for entertainment value though. In passing, last I heard, PA was in Frederick, Maryland. Random House is located on Broadway, in New York City. This “extensive operation a few miles” away the letter is talking about is actually a Random House distribution warehouse in Westminster (yay, Google Maps). Hint: they don’t acquire manuscripts there. I feel sorry for the RH mailroom clerks who are going to have to deal with this influx of bound slush from PA.

And, last but not least, I enjoyed this blog post by author Kate Douglas on the challenges of breaking into a new genre, and how to stay published, even when you’re being published very well.

Okay, off to try some solid food. Wish me luck.

These are Marianne’s recent YA books. They’re about a pair of twins… and vampires. And they’re awesome.

Marianne let me in on some super top secret information about her upcoming books, which basically had me swooning, because she’s drawing on one of my most favorite stories ever ever EVER.

So that was a lovely weekend and I’m glad Marianne was here to drag me out of my winter hibernation, otherwise it’s entirely likely I would have spent the weekend on the couch in fleece pants watching my brand new and muchly-cherished DVD sets of Avatar: the Last Airbender. Because that’s exactly what I proceeded to do as soon as Marianne went home on Sunday afternoon.

But it’s noon on Monday now and I’ve already completed two of my four big goals for the day, so I’m feeling pretty good.

And, I have a winner for the HEIST SOCIETY book, and that is:

Kristin Gray!

Please contact me with your address and I’ll mail you your prize.

Secondly:

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the authors of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, are on their way to Seattle, Chicago & the Bay area for the second leg of their book tour. They are hosting a special contest in honor of the tour, and I’m part of it. The winner of the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES: Unlock the Curse Contest will be win the magical object that brought Ethan and Lena together in the novel… Genevieve’s locket.

Information from my book, RAMPANT, will be used to solve one of the clues to unlock a challenge in the contest. Here is the complete list authors participating in the contest and their books, in the order in which the clues for their books will be given:

WICKED LOVELY by Melissa Marr
TITHE by Holly Black
CITY OF BONES by Cassandra Clare
SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater
THE DEMON’S LEXICON by Sarah Rees Brennan
RAMPANT by Diana Peterfreund

So come back to this blog to find a clue that will help unlock one of the six challenges, and good luck Unlocking the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES Curse!

And here are pictures of the gorgeous cameo locket prize!

Isn’t that gorgeous? I love books that come with special jewelry. Now I just need someone to start making me swords and alicorn daggers.