I sold my book!!!

Wow... Just saw the initial concept art for the cover... It's AWESOME. I'm sorry that I can't share it with you guys just yet, but needless to say, all of this just became 10X more 'real" for me. The cover artist that Juno uses (Tim Lantz) is amazing...

Check out www.juno-books or www.stygiandarkness.com for more of his work. As soon as I get the go-ahead to show the cover in public, Ill be sure to do so.
 
Well, he's the primary cover artist for Juno right now, so I couldn't specifically request him, but I'm happy with his work. They've already asked me for my feedback on his cover painting (which I provided and I hope they consider), but the conteact I agreed to did not reserve the right of refusal of the cover art... I WOULD HAVE asked that be included in the contract, but when I saw Juno's other covers I decided to trust them. :cookiemon
 
good point. Sometimes the visions we have in our heads of what the cover should look like might not be what truly sells the book. I hope to have the same dilemma one day.
 
The publisher liked "Blood Magic Book One: The Ballad of Kirin Widowmaker". I can live with that - it's very close to what I had initially. Book Two is still untitled but I have some ideas. Just started on the outline for it on Monday! :cookiemon
 
This just gets cooler and cooler (well, OK, for ME, anyway)...

art_bloodmagic.jpg


GALLERY PAGE: http://www.stygiandarkness.com/gallery/bloodmagic.html

Tim Lantz (the cover artist for Juno) just put up my cover art peice for reprint. Available in 8"x10" or 16"x20". This is direct from Tim (so I don't get anything from sales), but I still think it's cool.

Also, they just bumped me up to a September 2007 publication date - for more details see:

www.juno-books.com
 
Good luck, man! Were you planning on starting with an agent or just going right to the slush pile? I ask because more and more houses are not looking at "unagented" works (Tor seems to be something of a rareity in this regard) - in other words, they're relying on agents as rthe slush pile now. I have some tips on finding the right agent if that's the way you decide to go.

In my case, I went to Writer's conventions (ConText in Ohio in my case), but there are others - MarCon in Ohio has quite a few editors that attend. And of course WorldCon is a HUGE working con... Depending on whereyou are, I bet you have other medium-sized cons that working pros attend for the specific reason to sniff out new talent. If you have a fairly good speaking manner, you can't beat actually pitching the book in person to an editor - if they ask to see more then you send it right to them and bypass the slush!
 
Is the woman on your book cover wearing pants? I can't tell if that's shadow or cloth.
 
The original had the belt thingie and nothing else, and I said "not bad, but, even though I know it might cost me my official "Guy" card, I really think sne needs pants." Looks like he recolored the legs rather than draw clothing. What can I say? Tim seems to like his nekkid chicks. :cookiemon At least he added the zombie sweetling in the background.
 
ImagoX said:
Good luck, man! Were you planning on starting with an agent or just going right to the slush pile? I ask because more and more houses are not looking at "unagented" works (Tor seems to be something of a rareity in this regard) - in other words, they're relying on agents as rthe slush pile now. I have some tips on finding the right agent if that's the way you decide to go.

In my case, I went to Writer's conventions (ConText in Ohio in my case), but there are others - MarCon in Ohio has quite a few editors that attend. And of course WorldCon is a HUGE working con... Depending on whereyou are, I bet you have other medium-sized cons that working pros attend for the specific reason to sniff out new talent. If you have a fairly good speaking manner, you can't beat actually pitching the book in person to an editor - if they ask to see more then you send it right to them and bypass the slush!

I got a few tips from an editor/publisher (Stephen King's first) on how to avoid the slush pile. He also said finding a good agent is nearly impossible for a starting author, so I don't have much hope for that either. I'll take any and all info, though. I want it published. I don't care whether I have an agent or not. I'm not THAT prideful.
 
It's not pride... It simply opens up the market to publishers that otherwise will not take an "unsolicited submission" (and there are more every day - check Writer's Market). And I know PLENTY of authors that started with an agent as opposed to a slush pile. Ideally for a new writer you want someone with a few good, solid sales but not TOO many - as the "new guy" you might get ignored. Also, if an agent that looks good to you turns you down, don't be afraid to politely ask if they'd recommend someone - publishing looks large but really everyone reputable seems to know one-another and you can often get tips like "Well, I'm full right now, but So-and-So is looking to round out their client base - try mailing her instead".

Remember that an agent does not get paid unless they make a sale, so they're highly motivated to both DISCOVER you as well as work your manuscript into the best shape possible for the market they mean to sell to. Not a single author that had to make changes to their book to get a deal has ever told me that the changes weren't better in the long run (I was worried about this and I asked around).

Point is: have hope!

Tip: Subscribe to Locus Magazine, assuming you're writing Sci Fi/Fantasy (are you?). There's a page in Locus every month that lists who's selling what title to which publisher via what agent... You can skim for the publishing houses that you want to send to (as identified by Writer's Market and your research at the book store) and see what agent is selling to them. Start with the agents that seem to have a sale every month or two and then start sending inquiry letters. Usually a 2-3 page summary and the first 3 chapters are what you send cold to an agent, and then they'll get back with you if you hook 'em and they want more (just like a slush pile, in other words).

The biggest tip I ever got was:

"Rule #1 - Money always, always ALWAYS flows to the author and not the other way around".

Be VERY wary of any deal that wants YOU to pay money for readings, "preferred status with editors" or fee-based editing, as nearly every single one of them is a scam. To paraphrase King in "On Writing", if you're desperate enough to pay money to see your stuff in print then go straight to Vanity Press - at least the financial investment will somewhat pay for itself in the end product. I'm sure you already know that, but it's worth re-stating just in case others are watching this thread.
 
Marcon ( http://www.marcon.org/ ) is a largish con with pretty good panels - I've met writers and editors there. It's held on Labor Day.

Context (smaller, older crowd, *lots* of writers and editors - this is where I made my score: http://s187772641.onlinehome.us/ ) is held in October. Also SFWA (The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America ( http://www.sfwa.org/ ) has an events calendar I believe.

If you plan to attend either Con let me know and I'd be happy to let you use my spare room. I live about 20 minutes form MarCon and 15 from ConText and usually attend both myself.