I will share my opinion whether you ask for it or not. So imagine my joy when PaShai and Emma wrote to me and ASKED for advice. Yes, my friends, dreams do come true.

From PaShai:

Hi Lisi Harrison! I’ve read all your books about 300 times each! I’m not like any other girl that you have met. I have sickle cell anemia. And it is a very disturbing disease that triggers your back with excruciating pain..and if I don’t get it treated I could have a stroke or worse. Please Ms.Harrison you’re my only hope to accomplishing my dream. I want to talk to you about what kind books I would enjoy writing and what I would want to do with my first novel.

To PaShai:

Thank you for reading my books 300 times. I read your letter 301 times, so there! You sound like an incredibly brave person and I love your ambition. You should write that novel and I hope you enjoy doing it. But I can not be “your only hope” in accomplishing that. So I am respectfully returning all that hope you just sent my way so you can pin it on yourself instead. Only you can write this book. Only you know what you want it to be about. YOU! Write about something that speaks to your interests. Create characters who work through the kinds of issues you struggle with. Not necessarily someone with sickle cell anemia. That might be too exact. But you know what it’s like to feel pain. You know how it feels to have different challenges than your peers. You know how hard it is to stay strong when all you want to do is kick something and cry. So create a character who feels those things and then add a few things that you can’t relate to so you can have fun living as someone else for a while. That’s one of the best things about writing fiction. Your world, your rules. HAVE FUN!

From Emma:

Hi there! I have just finished the book Pretenders, and my family and friends are so relieved. They say these past few days they haven’t seen me at all, because I just had to finish the book soon because I was just so engaged and interested while reading this. You are now one of my all time favorite authors, and I can not wait until License to Spill comes out! I also had a question or two about writing. I have actually been working on a couple of books and I was wondering if you had any tips or tricks for any young aspiring writers? Thank you so much for being an amazing writer! Write on! (Get it? Whoops I’m corny).

To Emma:

Thank you Emma. License To Spill comes out June 24th. YAY! Tips and tricks for writing, huh? I wish, sister. There aren’t any tricks. You have to write every day. It’s that simple. Read books in the genre you are writing so you can see how other people do it. Keep a notebook with you and write down amazing details you stumble on during the day. It’s these details that will bring your writing to life. And read about writing. Books on the actual craft are very helpful and inspiring. Most of all don’t try to sound like anyone else. It’s your voice we want to hear because no one sees the world like you do. Now hit it.

TTYW,

Lisi

The post Letter Have It appeared first on Lisi Harrison.

Hey Lisi,

Your books are truly amazing!
I want to become a writer myself and as clichéd that probably sounds I dream of being one since I was little. I used to write short stories – well actually they were planned to turn into books but I never finished them  – but recently I participated in a contest NaNoWriMo where I completed a novel with over 50000 books. I am currently planning to publish it as an ebook on Amazon but it would be a dream coming true if it would get like really published.
I was hoping that you would have some tips? As in how did you manage to get your first book published and all.
That would really be amazing!
Thanks and lots of love,  Janine

Hi Janine. A few things first: One, thank you for the nice compliment. And congratulations on participating in NaNoWriMo, but more importantly, on completing your first novel! That’s huge for any writer and you should be very proud. It’s also more than I can say for myself since I majorly failed the 50,000 page November challenge last year. But this post isn’t about me, or my failures. It’s about you and all other young writers reading this who are wondering how to get their book published so you can add that to your list of successes.

I’ve said before that those who can’t do should turn to those who can. So in racking my brain on ways to best advise how an aspiring writer should go about getting noticed by a publisher I remembered my brilliant editor, Erin, who answered this very question on my blah-g a while back.

Here’s a refresher shot of partial Team LH from our brunch meeting a couple of weeks ago in Santa Monica. We ate delicious food, sipped on tea and virgin Bloody Mary’s, and worked on plotting book 3 of Pretenders. Erin is the fair-faced beauty in the top left corner, and down in the bottom left is Office Elf extraordinaire, Alisha! As you can see, Team LH was very excited to be meeting in the warm light of day instead of the cold glow of our computer screens and usual cc’d thread of emails.

But back to the question at hand.

My excitement continues because Erin put some serious thought into her advice on how to get published and when I rediscovered it today, I knew it would give you all the direction you need. If you follow her wise words, I will be reading your books someday.

Now over to Erin’s timeless guidance:

Hi readers,

Lisi asked me to answer a few questions for you. I know a lot of you are aspiring authors and that is fantastic! Keep writing! As with any artistic calling, it can be hard to break out and get your work noticed. For large publishing houses, the standard policy is to only accept manuscripts that are submitted through an agent. This is largely just a matter of volume—editors couldn’t possibly answer every single query if it was an open-door policy and most publishers do respond to every submission they get. So here are some ideas on making your way in the publishing world…

1) It is easiest to get your manuscript seen by a publisher if you have an agent. An agent truly is a great advocate for an author. So do consider trying to get representation for yourself.

2) Editors keep their eyes peeled for talent out in the world. Try other forms of writing—try your hand at journalism by writing for websites, magazines or newspapers and build up a clip file of published work. Write a blog on a topic that interests you and try to drum up a following. Or self publish through a variety of different platforms and try to garner an initial readership for your book that way. (These kinds of projects are all great experiences that you can use to pitch yourself to an agent as well.)

3) Consider paying a small fee to a freelance editor to review your manuscript and help you revise. There are a lot of great people out there who can help you take your writing to the next level.

4) Attend writing workshops or attend a full writing program. It will help you polish your work and meet other authors.
As with any career, the best thing you can do is network! Take classes, talk to local professors or authors, attend seminars, join a writers association—there are trade organizations for all aspects of the publishing industry. Apply for an internship at a publisher, or an agency, or to assist an author. The more people you meet, the more people you are connected to through their connections. The more people you know, the more you can talk about your projects and get advice. If you network your way to an editor, sometimes you can get someone to look at your work without an agent.
Basically, you need to do everything you can to put yourself out there and make connections. You also need to make sure you are putting your best work out there. Really take your time to develop your writing, and if you can’t get anyone to notice the first book you write, write another! A writer’s work is never done (as Lisi can tell you!). Keep creating… and good luck!

THANK YOU ERIN!!!!!!

Did offering up Erin’s advice and passing it off as a new blah-g post cure my current one note status? Probably not. Come back in two weeks when I make another go of it, and don’t forget to keep starting your questions off with the magic words.

TTYW,

Lisi

Ps. Office Elf will be guest posting over on her blog next week while I’m in Mexico!

The post Timeless Guidance – Erin’s Advice on Getting Published appeared first on Lisi Harrison.