Kimberly Pauley

Q&A: Word pages vs. book pages, other books, just how old am I?

Ok! I’ve had a few interesting questions posted on the Q&A page lately. Sometimes I just answer them there, but other times I’ll answer them here in the blog (and all Q&A stuff gets categorized as Q&A too, so you can get to it easy). So here’s the latest, which are kinda random (but in a good way; mostly I mean they don’t necessarily group well together):

Does one Word document page usually equal one page in a book? Like if I’m on page 38 in a Word document, would that only be page 38 if the book was published?

Nope, not exactly. Traditionally, back when everyone worked on typewriters and used essentially the same font (Courier, more or less), a page was considered to be 250 words. That number is still used as an estimate, but it’s just that. Depending on what font you use and what your margin settings are and things like that, the number of pages in your manuscript can be completely different from the actual finished book. The final edited manuscript of Sucks to Be Me was 224 pages. The books (both hardback and paperback) each had 293 page. There are 63,663 words in the manuscript. Words, in general, are a better way to count for me. Most YA novels have between 50,000 and 85,000 words in them. Still Sucks to Be Me has 80,992 words. When I’m writing, I set myself a # of words goal, not a page goal.

Will u have anymore books cominq out soon?

Well, not soon Other than Still Sucks to Be Me out in May. I am working on a joint project with a writer friend of mine that we’re just starting this month. I’m very excited about it because I think it is a cool concept. I’ve never worked on a novel with anyone before, so it will be interesting to see how it goes! I’m also in the early stages of another new book tentatively titled Cat Girl Saves The Day, but it’s still early on. I do have a goal for myself of finishing it by the end of February, but it’s hard to say with the holidays coming up. THEN comes the hard part. Polishing and having my agent submit the book around to publishers. And my editor and I have *very* briefly talked about a third book for Mina, but I don’t have anything on it yet other than a vague idea and the knowledge that it would mostly be set in Europe.

are u lik a teenaqer or sumthanq because ur books seem so into thaa younqer days lik u are livinq our lives?

LOL, no. I’m dreadfully old. Okay, maybe not *that* old (I’m *gasp* 36). But inside? I never grew up. And honestly, I don’t really ever plan on growing up. What’s the fun in that? Sure, I can play at grownup really well, but it’s no fun. And for me it’s kinda like wearing a skin that doesn’t fit real well. It’ll be too soon if I never do the corporate thing again.

To tell you the truth, that’s really how all grownups are. Some of us just get more into the role than others. My husband? He makes a pretty good grownup.

Posted in Q&A, Writing | 1 Comment »

What do they look like: Nathan

Okay, so everyone asks me what the characters look like and would like to know what actor would be a good representation of them. I’m going to take them one at a time as I come across people that I think would work.

So…for Nathan…I can see Alex Pettyfer or possibly Corey Sevier (but only in his blondish stage).

What do you guys think? I’d love recommendations too since I’m not nearly as up on hottie teen heartthrobs as I once was (*sigh* I feel old).

Posted in Just for Fun, Q&A | 6 Comments »

More Q&A (mostly about further books in the series)

So I had a great set of questions posted on the Q&A Page and thought I’d answer ‘em here:

I love your book it’s been my favourite since I first got it. I’ve read it six times. My friend and I both adore it, I made her read it and she loved it! I have some questions howidid you get the idea? When does the sequel come out? I can’t wait. How many books do you think will be in the series? Are you going to be writing another series after? Do you have any ideas? This next question is from my friend: I’m trying to write a book but I keep getting stuck and some problems getting started and finding ideas, do you have any advice for me? We loved you book and can’t wait for the sequel! Oops I have one more question that you might get a lot, Is your book going to become a movie?

So let me take that one at a time

How did I get the idea?

The short answer is that I was thinking about vampires (for various reasons) and decided I wanted to do something that would be the opposite of most vampire stories (at the time): funny, no vampire slayers, no blood and guts, etc.

When does the sequel come out?

Right now it is scheduled for release around August or September 2010. There’s some more info here and I’ll add to that over time as I get more stuff I’m allowed to post.

How many books will be in the series?

Wellllllll, that depends. I originally had outlines for 4 books, but so much changed with the second book (it wound up going in a WAY different direction once I figured out that Raven had some issues that she needed to work out with (or on) Mina. I think the basic ideas I had for the other 2 books still work, but would need to be modified. And maybe book 4 would be better as a book 5 with another one in between. But ultimately it depends on how well books one and two do…so tell people about ‘em if you like ‘em! The more that those books sell or are talked about, the more likely the publisher will want me to do more books in the series (that goes under “facts of life” ). The idea for book 3 has to do with Mina’s gap year between high school and college, where she travels to Europe. Though, hmmm, come to think of it, there might need to be something in between the end of book 2 and her Europe travels too. Hard to say yet!

Am I going to be writing another series after?

Perhaps, but it wouldn’t be vampire related…see next answer.

Do I have any ideas?

Tons! I have two main ideas that I want to develop. I actually plan to start working on one of them (not sure yet which one) in September after the revisions are done on Still Sucks to Be Me. They both have humorous elements to them and are both fantasy-ish (but not high fantasy; more like the same level of fantasy as Sucks to Be Me).

Do I have any advice for writers?

I’ve got a couple of posts in the blog about this already (I think you’ll find ‘em under the Q&A topic) and I’ve also started up a writing camp. There are still a couple of spots open if you’re friend is interested.

Is the book going to become a movie?

I hope so! It really depends on whether or not a company wants to option it for a script or not. I’ve had some interest, but nothing definite yet. That’s another thing that depends on word of mouth (from what I understand). Authors generally don’t have much control over whether their book is made into a movie or not. But it would be cool if it was!

Posted in Q&A | 3 Comments »

Q&A: More ?'s from Readers…

Some new questions in that I thought would be fun to answer (and besides, I need a little break from writing…):

Do you have a Playlist for Sucks To Be Me?

No, not exactly. I mostly just either listened on random to my own collection (about 10,000 songs and counting) or to Pandora. There were some scenes that I listened to specific stuff (like Morcheeba when they were playing Truth & Dare in the pool). I like almost all kinds of music, except for whiny country (stuff like There’s a Tear in My Beer).

Have you Ever read the Mortal Instruments Books by Cassandra Clare?

Nope, but I’ve heard really great things about them and they look really, really interesting. I hope to read them someday.

Have you Ever Been To a Pow-wow?

You know, I’m not sure. I kind of vaguely think I might have when I was younger. But I’m not sure. On a related note, my family has some Arapaho blood. Though I’m mostly Chinese (50%).

Do you thinks These Questions are Random.

Nah.

Posted in Q&A | 5 Comments »

Q&A: Answering some reader questions…

I got a bunch of great questions, so I thought I’d answer them here instead of in the comment thread so they’d be more obvious.

Oh and I have some questions about Mina in the second book… Since in the fisrt you talk about how she is the star french student… Will she be speaking any french in the second book?

Not really in the second book, though she does have some opportunity. But if the series goes into a third book, yes…

Does George speak any other lang.?

George knows Spanish from taking it in high school. He also picks up some Portuguese in the second book…

What did ever happen to Raven?

This you’ll find out in the second book. It’s actually really important to the story, so I don’t want to give anything away here. But boy, let me tell you, she’s not at all happy with Mina!

Do you have a title for the next book yet?  Pss. If not, I’m full of ideas. Psss. Maybe you could make another thing like you did for this one, but make it for ‘what should the title be?’

Yes, after talking with my editor, we’re looking at: “Still Sucks to Be Me: More All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton Smith, Teen Vampire” I think that’s pretty final now. The Hamilton is crossed out because of the VRA (Vampire Relocation Agency)… But I’d love to hear your ideas too!

Tags: sucks to be me
Posted in Q&A | 7 Comments »

What can you tell me about the next book?

I’ve had a number of questions about the seqel to Sucks to Be Me, so I thought I’d answer them here

UPDATED November 3, 2009

I’ve got an update now that kind makes a lot of the below out of date, but I’ll leave it up for posterity’s sake.

Still Sucks to Be Me has gone through revisions and copy editing and is now in the typesetting phase of preparation. The next step will be Advanced Reader Copies. Woot! The release date was moved up from September 2010 to May 11, 2010. Double Woot!!

I saw an early version of the cover, but it’s been changed since I saw it. I’ll share it (as well as the first chapter, etc.) as soon as I can.

I will have tons of fun stuff going on around the launch, so keep a lookout starting in January (there’s gonna be one really special contest that will kick off around then).

UPDATE! April 20, 2009

Okay, I have an official update! The sequel to Sucks to Be Me is officially under contract now. I’m supposed to finish up this draft and get it to my editor around June. However, it won’t actually be out in stores until next year (sorry, guys, publishing is slow! There’s all kinds of stuff to do — editing, designing the cover and chapter heads, typesetting-y stuff, etc.). From what I understand, there will be some kind of teaser or excerpt of the second book included in the paperback release of Sucks to Be Me (which will be out in August). So, yay!

What’s the title of the sequel?

Right now, I’m calling it It Still Sucks to Be Me: More All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton Smith. That’s not final, but pretty likely.

When is it going to come out?

No idea as of yet, especially since I’m still working on it Heck, you can even leave me suggestions here, if you’d like. Can’t promise that I’ll take any of them, but who knows. I’m definitely using some of the character names that were suggested in the Launch Party contest. Also, the publisher is waiting to see how the first book does (that’s just reality for a first-time author), so they probably won’t know until Spring when paperback orders (it’ll come out in paper next year) start coming in. So please do tell your friends about the book — you may not think so, but YOU can make a difference to first-time (heck, any-time) authors. So far the book seems to be doing pretty well, but (from what I understand) it’s sustained sales that excite the publisher. Oh, and please do review it on Amazon and B&N or wherever else! That stuff really does help!

Is Raven in it? Do we find out what happened to her?

Yep, Raven is in it. And here’s where you guys have already made a difference — originally, my plot for the second book didn’t really call for her. But so many of you asked about her that it started me thinking…and I came up with a nice plot twist that includes her…actually, she’s integral to the plot now.

Is Aubrey in it? Do we find out what happened to him?

Aubrey is definitely mentioned. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Is Serena in it? George?

Yep and yep.

Why is it taking soooo lonnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggg???

Well, mostly because of my little peanut boy Max. He’s 8 months old now and into EVERYTHING! But also because I’m still running YA Books Central (which takes up chunks of time). But it is coming along pretty good and I’m happy with how it is going.

Tags: sucks to be me sequel
Posted in Q&A, Writing | 65 Comments »

Some other recommended vampire books

A lot of people have asked me to recommend other great vampire books (other than Sucks to Be Me and Twilight). This is a tough question for me since I stopped reading vampire books after I found out my book was going to be published. Some authors read everything they can about their topic, but I only read non-fiction (i.e. research-y) stuff on mine. I don’t like to get things confused in my head (there’s enough crazy stuff going on in there as it is!).

That said, I can recommend some that I’ve either read or had recommended to me…so, here you go…I’ll try to add to this list over time.

• Suck It Up by Brian Meehl (on the funny side)
• Thirsty by M. T. Anderson.
• Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Tantalize
• Life Sucks by Jessica Abel (it’s a graphic novel)
• House of Night series (those are by P.C. and Kristin Cast)
• The Hallowmere series features some vampiric-ish Faeries. It’s by Tiffany Trent
• The Morganville Vampires series
• Mari Mancusi’s books (think the first one is Boys that Bite)
• Vivian Vande Velde’s books
• Blue Bloods (I understand it’s kind of a vampiric Gossip Girls-ish series)
• Evernight by Claudia Gray
• And, of course, Anne Rice’s books (but I’d only recommend that for older YA readers)
• Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot (another I’d recommend more for older YA readers)
• Annette Curtis Klause’s books
• Heather Brewer’s Vlad books

Feel free to comment and add your own suggestions as well!

Tags: recommended vampire books
Posted in Books, Q&A | 43 Comments »

Q&A: Writing advice/process…to outline or not to outline…

Diana asked: “When you wrote your book, did you sort of have the idea what the whole plot would be about or did you just let it come to you?”

All writers work differently. Some just wing everything, some outline obsessively, and most of us fall inbetween. I personally keep a basic outline (usually a couple of points per chapter, sometimes more as a timeline) and a folder full of notes. I also keep character notes (to make sure someone doesn’t go from green eyes to brown and vice versa). I do revise the outline as I go and try to keep it updated. This is especially important for me as I come up with the chapter headings, since I try to make sure each one has something to do with the chapter itself.

Here’s an example of the first part of my outline that I used for Sucks to Be Me:

1)    Week 1

a)     Monday

i)       Finds out have to choose from parents

ii)     Goes to school. English Class: Studying Dracula

iii)   Comes Home: Uncle Mortie & Ms. Riley

iv)   Uncle Mortie Stays for Dinner

v)     Making the List – forgotten homework

b)     Tuesday

i)       School

ii)   Vampire Lesson 1: Vampires don’t look like Brad Pitt –

(1)  meets Aubrey

(2)  The musculature and physical changes

As you can see, it’s pretty basic. Some people have really, really detailed outlines. You just have to find out what works for you. I used to not outline at all…and I found I never finished those projects. So now I outline.

Tags: writing advice, writing process
Posted in Q&A, Writing | 9 Comments »

Q&A: How do you get published?

So I’ve had a number of people email and ask about how I got published (and, by extension, how can they get published). While I talk about that some in the hints & tips article up at YABC, I’ll outline here how I personally got published since so many people have asked about it. Please keep in mind that everyone’s path to publication is completely different. So my story likely won’t be particularly helpful to you.

The first step is the obvious one. I wrote a book and revised it until I was fairly happy with it (I say ‘fairly happy’ because you’ll never be completely happy with a book…there’s always something you find that you’d change or add every time you read it…but at some point you have to stop and say ‘okay, enough, time to send it out’). I then researched agents and publishers I thought might be a good fit for my book. I also asked author friends for their recommendations (I knew a lot of people from reviewing books at my website, Young Adult (& Kids!) Books Central).

I submitted to agents first, always following the appropriate guidelines (some want a synopsis and a cover letter only, some want that plus 3 chapters, some want only a letter, etc. etc.). For the most part, all of the agents I submitted to liked my writing but didn’t think vampires were a good bet at that point (this was in 2005 before Twilight made it big).

I was actually about to give up on the book and was working on some other projects when a friend of mine said that her editor was looking for paranormal YA. She introduced me to my (to-be) editor and I sent off the appropriate letters and materials. We went back and forth for a while and I provided information as requested (like analyzing where my book would fit in the marketplace). After a while, the publisher decided they wanted to buy my book. This was in July of 2007. We then went into the revision process, which went on for a number of months.

And that’s pretty much it.

Like I said, everyone’s path is different. Some people find an agent first. Some a publisher. Some never get an agent. There are all kinds of great magazines and website resources out there for aspiring writers and I linked to some of them in the hints & tips article I mentioned earlier.

Good luck to all you aspiring writers out there. Always remember — write! Then write some more.

Tags: how to get published, writing advice
Posted in Q&A, Writing | 9 Comments »

Do I have any advice for aspiring writers?

A number of recent visitors have asked me for advice for aspiring writers. I wrote up a big long article over on the Young Adult (& Kids!) Books Central site sometime ago and you should definitely check that out, though I’ve also got a few things I’d like to add for younger writers here:

• The most important thing to do is to write. The more you write, the better you get at it. And remember that craft is just as important as ideas — pay attention in English class, ask your teacher for advice, maybe get involved with your school or local newspaper. Any writing, even stuff you do for school, helps make you a better writer (though I complained about long term papers, too!).
• Most places have local writer’s groups and some are happy to welcome teen members as well. Check your local library and newspapers for listings. These can be great resources for writers of any age.
• Start a writing group with other like-minded friends. And if you do — learn how to (give and) take constructive criticism.
• Think about writing some short stories and sending them out to magazines and/or websites that publish teens. It’s great practice. Writing a good short story is often harder than writing a full-length novel. You’ve got to include a lot of stuff in a short amount of words.
• There’s also nothing wrong with writing fan fiction, just keep in mind that it is practice — it isn’t something you’ll be able to sell. But it is a great way to hone your craft!
• When you do start sending things out, follow the rules and act professional. That means cover letters, good grammar, and if they ask for a snail mail letter vs. an email, send the snail mail. It’s okay to mention your age, but you can show with your actions that you are professional and mature enough that they would want to work with you (I’ve heard stories before from an editor that they’d seen some promising writing from a teen, but they didn’t go for it because they didn’t think the teen was capable of working with them).

I hope that helps! Good luck to all you writers out there!

Tags: aspiring writers, teen writers, writing advice
Posted in Q&A, Writing | 10 Comments »