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).
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!
(Updated May 2011)
I get asked this question a lot. Actually, I get asked “So, have you made your first million yet?” a lot (the answer to that is no, not even close!). I think it must be all the news stories about JK Rowling and Stephenie Meyer and those celebs who write books and get 6 figure or multi-million dollar advances (I wish).
A New York Times bestselling author (her sixth book debuted at #19 on the mass market list) has posted up her earnings on the book and just (Nov 09) posted up another follow up royalty statement (you should read both of them to get the whole picture–and also the comments). It’s a great blog post and gives you an idea of what authors *really* earn on their books.
Keep in mind that I’m a YA author and that we tend to get smaller advances (much! — my first advance was nowhere near $50,000.00. — though also keep in mind that an advance is just that…an advance against the royalties your book will earn…kind of a pay me now or pay me later kind of thing…) YA books also don’t tend to have nearly as large a print run (especially first timers like me). I think my first print run was around 20,000 (and honestly, I’m not exactly sure…those royalty statements are hard to read!).
As you read that, you should also keep in mind that she’s talking about ONE book and it’s a mass market paperback. To really get an idea of what your potential income is, you need to consider that you’ll (hopefully) get to the point where you have more than one book in print, that your earnings will be very different on a hardback vs. a paperback vs. a mass market paperback, and that even one book can generate multiple revenue streams (foreign language editions, eBooks, Kindle, audio books, etc.). So just looking at numbers for ONE book in ONE format really only gives you the tip of the iceberg.
So anyway, read on and see what you think. I bet it will surprise a lot of you!
There are some other things you should know too (so many people stumble upon this post according to the logs, I figured I’d clarify things some more):
There’s also a difference between trade paperbacks and mass market paperbacks. This article from the NY Times covers it well. And all of it, of course, depends on what’s in your contract — i.e. what percentage the author gets and whether it is off of the cover price or (essentially) the publisher’s price (sorry, I forget the exact term).So basically…money is not a reason to write. Or rather, it shouldn’t be “the” reason. You write because you have stories to tell. Because it is something you love to do. Because you can’t imagine not doing it. You don’t write because you think you’re going to be the next Stephen King or J. K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer.
Update: And read this post by Author/Agent Mandy Hubbard. That really breaks it down for you. Though keep in mind that epublishing is changing the marketplace in many ways. Everything I’ve talked about here is so-called “traditional” publishing. I really can’t comment on those writers that have gone the solely epublished route as I haven’t done that myself.
I’ve had a number of questions about the sequel to Sucks to Be Me, so I thought I’d answer them here
UPDATED 2010
You can find out all about Still Sucks to Be Me on the official page for the book. I’ve kept all of the below information, just in case you wanted a historical records of sorts.
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.
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.
Feel free to comment and add your own suggestions as well!
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.
So I’ve had a number of people email and ask about how I got published (and, by extension, how can they get published). 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.
Good luck to all you aspiring writers out there. Always remember — write! Then write some more.
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:
I hope that helps! Good luck to all you writers out there!
Someone asked if I decided to write a book about vampires after reading Twilight. And if you’ve read Sucks to Be Me or the first chapter excerpt, you might have noticed there’s a reference to Stephenie Meyer in there.
Well, I actually wrote this book in 2005 before Twilight came out in October of that year. The first draft obviously didn’t mention Stephenie Meyer back then, since it was before anyone had even heard of Edward and Bella and the Cullens and Jacob. The reference at that point was actually to Anne Rice. But by the time I sold the book and was working on the revisions with my editor, Twilight was huge and my editor brought up the good point that Anne Rice was really more of an adult author and would most teens have heard of her nowadays? So we decided to change the reference to Stephenie Meyer instead. I hope she doesn’t mind (not even sure if she knows, honestly), since it was definitely meant as a mark of respect regarding her place in pop culture.
Now, as for why I decided to write a book about vampires…in a way, I really didn’t. I was even working on another book at the time. But I’d recently read this YA vampire book (that I won’t name) that had all these references to Dracula (which I’ve studied like a bazillion times) and it got so much stuff wrong. I was annoyed. And late one night the first line of STBM came in my head and I got up and wrote it down. And then wrote up the first couple of paragraphs. And then I went to bed.
I figured that was it, but when I got up the next day, I had more of Mina in my head and (in the immortal words of John Lee Hooker) it had to come out. I still haven’t finished the other fantasy I was working on, but maybe I’ll work on it after the sequel to STBM is done. So that’s the long and short of it, more or less.
