Book Cover and Paycheck

Three big things to tel y'all!

First, I finally got my mitts on a camera and now have a digital picture of TSA's book cover, drawn by me. Tada!

Imagine it as a real girl with photo manipulation, and you got it. Rick the editor likes it for the most part, and we'll be using it as a springboard for other ideas.

Second, I finally have my first assignment for Spencer Hill done. I sent in this cover, an author's bio, a book jacket description, and my lovely author's photo in. No we can start the editing process. Rick's going on vacation for a week or so, but he'll have a lot of critiques/edits to tell me about once he gets back so we can get the ball rolling.

Third, guess what I got in the mail today: my first advanced paycheck! WOOT! Yes people, I received my payment from Spencer Hill for buying TSA. My first payment for my writing, the job I want to do for the rest of my life! Sure, it's only $170, but Leticia and I are sure once the book is published, there will be more where that comes from!

Doing mental cartwheels with joy,
Colleen

Meet The Editor

Late night post! Let's get this rolling, 'cause I got a lot of news to share.

First off, I got to meet my editor! His name is Rich Storrs, and when he's not editing books for Spencer Press, he's a middle school teacher. He asked if I've made any changes to the TSA manuscript since I first sent it in, and if I hadn't, we could get to work with perfecting the story by setting up a Dropbox account we can share and rewrite on. I haven't change the story (and told him so), so any day he's going to write back, we'll make the account and start revising! I already know I'm going to like working with him; he actually asked if the "flamingred" part of my Gmail address meant I was a redhead. Apparently his wife happens to be a redhead as well. (Have I mentioned how much I love my hair?)

Second, I got a prize pack from Spencer Hill. There were bookmarks advertising their books, a magnet, a guitar pick, a bag, and other little goodies. It was all very nice, and was a great welcome to Spencer Hill!

Finally, I received an email from Leticia the agent. She told me that Spencer Hill has gotten my contracts. The deal is finalized, and I'll be getting my advanced payment soon! She also asked for me to send her any other book manuscripts I have (I got two!) that she can work with. But the best news is that the release date is now for December 2012, not for Winter 2013. Talk about the greatest Christmas gift ever! ^_^

Cheerios,
Colleen

First Contact

No, I'm not talking about contacting any alien race (though that would be so cool!). I'm talking about how this week, a couple of days ago, I got my first email from Spencer Hill Press!

The woman who wrote to me is named Katie Kaynak, and she's an editor. Though she's not my editor: she wrote that Rich Storrs and Marie Romero are going to be my editors! Along with that little tidbit, I also received my first assignment from them. Well, more like five, actually. Check it:

1. An author bio.

2. An author photo. 

3. A draft of the jacket copy.

4. Your ideas for the cover design.

5. Release data, which the editors will put together

So now we have an idea of a release date, which the email says should be in October 2013. What a lovely birthday present that would be (since my birthday is October 23rd)!

I've already drawn up my idea for the book cover. Still haven't managed to get ahold of a camera to take a picture of and post, but I promise I'll get it up eventually. Along with that, I've written up the author bio and jacket copy: 

Jacket copy draft: 
Something's out there.
Rylan Forester isn't one to believe in the fantastical. Not when there are so many real frustrations in his life. Like the land-snatching mayor trying to by the swampland on his family's property. Like his distant father who won't stop avoiding him. Like his best friend's sister crushing on him. Like his ex-friend turned bully. And like the crazy dream that's been haunting him for the past month.
But then, maybe it's not so crazy. Not when he feels something watching him from the swamp. And especially not when someone-something-saves him from an accident that seems all too familiar. Something with bright green eyes and pointy teeth. Something that will pull Rylan into a world of mystery, magic, and beauty. Something that will cherish him dearly ... and make him face the ugly truths of his past and present.
Because no matter how muddy the swamp is, it can't always hide what's lurking under the surface.

Author bio:
Colleen Boyd was born in Burwyn, Illinois, and can't always remember that fact. When she's not attending Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois to earn an English degree for Creative Writing, she lives in Overland Park, Kansas with her mother, father, her two sisters, and Mollie the schnoodle. This is her first (but definitely not her last) book. You can visit her blog at http://colleeneboyd.blogspot.com/, or go to her Facebook page.

Comments are welcomed and liked.

As for my picture, Mom has a friend, Seth, who can take care of it, and she's emailed him to ask if he wants the job. Am now waiting for reply.

And that does it. I'm excited! Are you?

Colleen

Writers Tips #2

Yay, only one day late this time!

Work is going well. My boss is actually thinking about letting ME write the newsletter every month. More vacation money for me! And by vacation, I mean my study abroad in Scotland this fall. Can't wait!

As for the petition, it's over 25,000 signatures and growing. Thank you to all who signed, and if you haven't signed please consider doing so!

Not much news on the book front (other than that I've almost completed the first chapter of my next book), so I guess I'll give another writing tip. Like number one, this is kind of obvious, but still important! So......

write a lot!

Again, obvious. But writing is like any sport out there; the more you practice, the better you get. So even if you write something horrible, know that's it's building up to something better. And it's not like you can't go back and rewrite once you get better. So keep writing!

Ta ta,
Colleen 

Updates and a Petition

Again, I'm late with posting. Curse you lazy summer days that make me lazy and summer jobs that keep me busy! Yes, I do have some summer jobs. My grandmother recently had hip surgery (it went well) and now I get to be her chauffeur. I love my grandmother dearly, so I'm happy with the arrangement.

My second job is editing a newsletter my mother's friend is in charge of. If it goes well enough, I'll move up to moving data from websites for a client of his. It's my first freelance writing job!

Enough on the personal life. Let's get to the book/writing news. A couple days ago I had to print out three more copies of the contract to sign and send (Spencer Hill emailed they needed three for some reason). But I've been alerted that Leticia's received them and is sending them to the publisher, so hopefully I can start doing publishing work soon.

I've also started writing my fourth novel. No spoilers here, but I will say it's for an older audience, it's complex, it's big, and it's going to be post apocalyptic/science fiction with robots and holograms and stuff. Did I mention this is big? Thankfully I have the whole plot lined out so I know where I'm going.

Finally, I have a favor to ask you, my loyal readers. Most of you don't know, but I'm a loyal reader/patron at www.fanfiction.net. This is a site where anyone can go and write/post stories about their favorite books, movies, video games, etc. while using the characters as their own. It's a place of great creativity, and some of the stories I've read their are true masterpieces, some even better than real books.
However, as of June 4th, and I quote,
"... FF.net has decided to go through a massive upheaval and remove thousands of stories from its library, some of the best fanfics ever written, gone, never to be read again. They are removing anything involving sexual situations, or violence, or inspired by a song. The list goes on. And we as readers see this as a gross waste of talent and incredible material."
Apparently Fanfiction.net's M rating is for stories with foul language and THEMES of violence/sex, not actual violence/sex. As a result, the proctors are going deleting stories WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING. Some of these people don't have second copies of their stories saved somewhere, so a story that took YEARS to write can be gone, along with all the hard work the author put into their tale.
This is an outrage! Are they trying to make their writers leave the site? Don't they know about freedom of expression and the 1st Amendment? Why can't they just create a MA rating, or a sister site for MA stories, or create adult filters and age restrictions? The technology to do so is available!

Thankfully, we can do something about this. Go to http://www.change.org/petitions/fanfiction-net-stop-the-destruction-of-fanfiction-net# to sign a petition to stop this pointless deletion of stories and look for other options. It'll only take a couple of minutes to register and sign. If you want to know more, check out this forum at http://forum.fanfiction.net/topic/111772/63683250/31/.

Cheers, Colleen
"We're not gonna take it!
No, we ain't gonna take it!
We're not gonna take it, ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!"