An Archived Blog and a New Home!

This is just an FYI that from now on new blog posts will be posted at https://jillbaguchinsky.com/blog/. This blog will remain as an archive, but I won't be updating it anymore.

What If Your Agent Doesn't Like Your Next Book?

When you're trying to break into traditional publishing, landing an agent feels like finding the holy grail -- you've completed the quest, you've leveled up, you've done the thing. Then you start digging into everything that comes after, and you realize that signing with an agent is just another step in the process. And oh boy, you've still got a hike ahead of you.

So. You sign the contract. Your agent probably wants a revision, so you get that done. The two of you put together a submission package, your agent starts reaching out to editors, and for half a second you can BREATHE because the process is mostly beyond your control. (You should still be developing your platform, extending your reach, all that good stuff, but at least the submission process itself can chug along without you for a bit.) In that moment of calmness, you start thinking about that new idea that's been wiggling in the back of your head. That's when the anxiety sets in because...

What if my agent doesn't like my next book???

*runs screaming into the night*

I've seen that question on so many writing forums and Q&As and subreddits. It's a dreadful thought, and I can tell you from experience that it feels even more dreadful when it actually happens. So what does it mean when your agent just doesn't connect with your new work?

The scenario can play out in several ways, and it mostly depends on your agent. If you guys work well together but your new idea is in a genre or area that he doesn't represent, he might try to work something out with another agent (probably someone in his agency) who has more experience with that genre. If your new idea is still just that, a vague and nebulous spark, and you haven't put a lot of time or work into it yet, your agent might suggest that you put it aside for now and work on something she's more likely to be able to sell.

Or . . . You and your agent might decide to part ways.

I experienced the third option. In 2014, my then-agent was still trying to sell UNDERBED when I sent her the first draft of MAMMOTH. We worked through a series of MAMMOTH revisions, but in the end, she just couldn't connect strongly enough with the main character to represent the project, and I felt too strongly about MAMMOTH to give up on it.

Because of that, and because she'd been unable to do much with UNDERBED, she and I parted ways in 2015. That happened on my birthday, by the way. I don't recommend that. Really kind of ruins the day.

So yeah. These things happen. Sometimes you have to take a step or two back. However, that doesn't mean that you've failed, or that the project in question isn't viable. It just means that you and your agent weren't the literary soulmates you both hoped you'd be, and if an agent doesn't fall in love with a project, she's not the one you want selling that project anyway. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right fit in this industry.

I sent out a couple of MAMMOTH queries that same day. Finding a new agent took longer than I expected (more on that in another post!), but now that I can turn around and look back at that rocky hiking trail from the other side . . .

I think it was all worth it.

Breaking up with an agent sucks, but it's not the end of your career. You mope for a bit, you vent to your friends, and then you stand up and dust yourself off. You keep going.

I've Said it a Thousand Times...

...I'm a terrible blogger.

*dusts off the blog*

So here's the tricky thing about maintaining a writing blog: You need to have writing-related news to share. When you hit a few speed bumps on the publication highway and you have to ride the brakes for a bit, you might not have much to say, at least until you can hit that gas pedal again.

(That's not true. You have PLENTY to say during those slowdowns. It's just that none of it is appropriate to share on a professional blog. Instead, you complain to your friends while they nod sympathetically and pour you another glass of wine.)

Things seem to be picking up speed again. I recently signed with an amazing new agent (more on him soon), and MAMMOTH is polished and out on submission (more on that soon, too). I'm planning and researching my next project (...can you guess what I'm going to say here?). I have every intention of updating this thing more regularly. Those intentions are good, and you know what they say about good intentions... But I'm going to try.

NaNo is Looming

So yeah, like I've said before, I'm not a terribly great blogger.

It would help if I had news to share. UNDERBED is still out with a number of editors, and I'm hoping my agent and I are close to putting the final polish on MAMMOTH and getting that one out on submission as well.

I'm excited about MAMMOTH. Really excited. The kind of excited that makes me want to gush endlessly and get other people excited as well, but doing that is difficult and weird without having any concrete publication info to go along with it, so I'm holding back. For now. But dang, I can't wait for y'all to meet Natalie.

And of course, we're less than two weeks away from November. NaNoWriMo is looming. I'll be conquering a complete reboot of my old MOTH & MOON idea (the original got scrapped early on in NaNo 2012 for the Southern-fried project that became HAINT BLUE):

One sixteen-year-old girl. One 1986 road trip. One hitchhiker. And one very large spider.

I go by Fire and Air over at NaNo. My profile is here; feel free to add me as a buddy. Good luck this November, NaNo peeps!

I've said it before. I'm terrible at this.

Yeah, so it's been almost a year since I posted. Not sure why I'm terrible at consistent blogging. Ten years ago I would've been posting daily. Of course, I was just outgrowing my angsty poetry phase around that time, so most of those posts would've been horribly embarrassing. Be thankful I'm a bad blogger.

I don't have any concrete book news just yet, but I'm hoping that changes soon. My fingers are crossed. Agent Awesome (AKA Danielle Chiotti of Upstart Crow) has UNDERBED out to a number of editors, and I'm working on a new project, MAMMOTH. MAMMOTH is contemporary YA about a sixteen-year-old plus-size paleo-geek who scores a prestigious internship at an Ice Age dig site. It's a mashup of paleontology, popularity, and pin-up style.

Earlier this month I had the incredible opportunity to fly out to Texas and visit the Waco Mammoth Site, the paleo lab at UT, and several other locations to research MAMMOTH (and generally geek out over dig sites and fossils, OMG). I'll be sharing more of my photos here soon. It was an amazing experience!

That's all I've got for now. Hope y'all have been having a great holiday season, and here's to a totally mammoth 2014!

For Cabal

Once upon a time, on a rainy road on a rainy day, an author spotted a dog. The dog was big and white and all alone, and because the author was very kind, he stopped to help. He placed the very large dog in his very small car, and off they went together.

In the end, the dog and the author adopted each other, and the author named the dog "Cabal."

Not that he'll see this, but my sincerest condolences -- and my heart -- go out to Neil Gaiman following the loss of Cabal.

Christmas Bonus: A Visit with Henry

 I originally wrote this to amuse myself (and Rhonda Jones, Henry's biggest fan), but I can't resist sharing it here as well, as a little stocking stuffer for anyone who's read and enjoyed Spookygirl: Paranormal Investigator. Enjoy this little holiday visit with the ghostly custodian Violet originally encountered in Spookygirl's first chapter.




A Visit with Henry ('Twas the Night Before Christmas)

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the school
Not a spirit was stirring, no ghost and no ghoul.
I walked past the mural displayed in the hall –
A misshapen Trojan assured to appall.

The tiles underfoot were in need of a clean,
A layer of grime over yellow and green.
The trophy case covered in handprints unclear,
Obscuring its contents (so lame yet so dear).

My Gothlings stayed close, all poised for a spectre,
With cameras, recorders, an EMF detector.
The numbers went crazy, gone right off the scale!
And the air here grew colder with each sharp inhale.

When down near the gym there arose such a fuss –
A grumpy old voice, a gripe and a cuss –
I shouldered my bag – a comforting weight –
And headed on down to investigate.

As I approached, I soon caught the sight
Of a grouchy old phantom who worked through the night
Just cleaning and mopping and scrubbing the place
With lead in his step and a scowl on his face. 

"Missy!" he said when he saw me so near. 
"Look at these smudges of dirt – right down here." 
He pointed and snarled at a place on the floor. 
"Did you track that in when you walked through the door?" 

Before I could answer, he tossed me a frown
And went back to mopping the hall, up and down.
'Twas the very same job he’d done all his life
(And he still did it now to avoid his dead wife).

Oh, how he worked! And oh, how he tried!
It was never an issue before he had died –
But now that had changed. Though he put in the time,
A ghost can’t do much against flesh-and-blood grime. 

"Henry," I said, "I've brought you some aid.
I'm here to be Palmetto High's merry maid.
It's the night before Christmas, you silly old dude,
So quit your complaining. No need to be rude." 

With that we brought forth the supplies we'd amassed –
My friends and I cleaned, and we did it all fast.
We polished the trophy case, swept up the floor,
And sent all the dirt right back out the front door.

The hallway, it sparkled, so overly clean,
Even ol' Henry couldn’t bear to be mean.
He surveyed the place, and he let out a sigh,
And hurriedly blinked a stray tear from his eye.

"Missy," he said, "this I wasn't expecting.
I thought you were just here for spirit detecting.
Can't clean like I used to, which makes me quite blue.
It pains me to say it, but . . . Thanks. All of you."

"No problem," I said, suppressing a scoff. 
 "Just have a good evening. Enjoy your night off." 
And I heard Henry say as he faded from sight, 
"Spooky Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

------

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! And of course, it wouldn't be a properly spooky Christmas without some creepy decorations, so here are a few of my favorites:

 

Halloween: I Win

My friend Dava sent me what just might be the coolest Halloween decoration ever:

ZOMBIE LAWN FLAMINGO.

(Totally worthy of capslock.)

He might just have to be a part of the year-round decor. I'll get him a scarf and a teeny Santa hat for Christmas. Because, you know... It's not a proper Christmas without at least one zombie, right?

Busy Days are Here

Can't believe Halloween's already less than a week away! I'd originally planned to be Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games, but then I got lazy and ended up as a witch instead. Here I am on my way to my friends' Halloween party last weekend.

Early this month I finished a pretty major revision of my current work-in-progress, Underbed. It's now back with my agent. We decided to make it a middle grade project rather than YA, and I think the change suits it well.

And of course, NaNoWriMo is only a few more days away! I'm all set to start working on a somewhat gritty YA fantasy project called Moth & Moon. Can't wait to spend my afternoons curled up in coffee shops with a mug and my laptop! I'm Fire and Air over on the NaNo site.

Recently I've been interviewed by two blogs, The Book Cellar and YA Librarian Tales, about Spookygirl. Spookygirl is also getting more and more reviews online, including this lovely one by indie author Amy Martin, who was guest-reviewing on YA Reads. Thanks, everyone!

Also, Young Adult Books Central is giving away five copies of Spookygirl! You can enter until Halloween, so stop by and take a chance. That link also includes my guest post about the most haunted house I've ever encountered.

And finally, I just noticed that Spookygirl's Publishers Weekly review has been posted! PW mentions Spookygirl's "straight-talking, level-headed protagonist and smooth storytelling" -- not bad, not bad!

Guest Posts Galore

If I've been quiet here lately, it's because I've been posting elsewhere! Several blogs have graciously hosted Spookygirl-related guest posts -- read on:

For In Bed with Books, I answered my favorite frequently-asked question about Spookygirl. (You can also read In Bed with Books' review of Spookygirl here!)

I shared some information about poltergeists with The Children's Book Review. (Short version: Real-life poltergeists? If they exist, they're not nearly as friendly as Spookygirl's Buster.)

Finally, I wrote a destination post about southwest Florida for Ticket to Anywhere. Although Spookygirl's fictional towns are situated on the state's east coast, they're heavily inspired by Marco Island and Naples on the Gulf of Mexico. I also included some photos, like this one I took of dolphins swimming under the Jolley Bridge that connects Marco to the mainland. (And click here for Ticket to Anywhere's review of Spookygirl!)

Thanks for having me, everyone! It was fun!

The Road to Publication: Part Fourteen

[This is part 14 of a summary of Spookygirl’s journey toward publication. Use the Progress tag to access all related entries.]

Here it is! The big one. On Thursday, this happened:

 
There it was, shelved in Books-A-Million! I held it overhead like it was a boombox and I was John Cusack. I also got reports from all over of other Spookygirl sightings -- other parts of Florida, Georgia, Ohio, New Jersey, and more. My assistant editor found it at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square in NYC.

I spent the day stalking bookstores with my family before a celebration dinner. I also insisted on stopping at Office Depot for a supply of purple pens (since Violet would never stand for her writer signing books in plain ol' black ink).

Sadly, in one store I was nearly as excited to find a stuffed TARDIS as I was to find my own book. The wee TARDIS came home with me. (Come on -- it lights up and goes VWORP VWORP VWORP. I needed it in my life!)

I don't know how to express what it felt like to see my work in a bookstore. As a writer, I should be able to, but it transcends words. It's awesome, but also strangely humbling -- a reminder of how much support and encouragement I was gifted with while I fought to get to this point. I'm so very thankful for all of it.

I'll conclude the "Road to Publication" series with a list of five things you might not know about pub day:

1. If you've ever been a nail biter, you'll relapse. ASK ME HOW I KNOW.

2. Have your phone charger with you; all that tweeting and Facebooking and photo-taking (and obsessively peeking at your ever-changing Amazon sales ranking) will kill your battery.

3. Unless you've written a pretty major release, don't expect every store to have your book in stock yet. My agent tipped me off on this one, confirming what I'd already suspected. Sure enough, several branches of Books-A-Million had it in stock, but Barnes & Noble did not, although it's on the way.

4. There is such a thing as Post-Publication Hangover, and it had nothing to do with that lemon drop martini I had at dinner. I was exhausted yesterday!

5. You'll be reminded of just how many people are rooting for you, and that will feel amazing. Okay, so I already kind of said that above. Hey, it's worth repeating.

Spookygirl Giveaway Winners!

Greetings from the Georgia woods, where the trees are green, the spiders are plentiful, the fire spinners get rained out (noooo), and the Internet is slow. I apologize for being a few days late with this.

Congrats to Jolene and Heather for winning ARCs of SPOOKYGIRL: PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR! Check your direct messages on Twitter if you haven't already.

Thanks again to everyone who entered! Believe me, I wish I had enough copies for all of you.

And now we'll see if this entry will post without timing out . . .

Giveaway Update!

August 1 is winding down (here in the Eastern time zone, anyway), which means the chance to win a Spookygirl: Paranormal Investigator ARC is winding down as well. Thank you so much to everyone who entered and helped spread the word!

I've collected all the entries in my trusty little cauldron. If anyone else squeaks in before midnight, I'll add their names to the pot.

My plan is to post the winners early tomorrow morning. I apologize ahead of time if that doesn't happen -- I have an eleven-hour drive ahead of me tomorrow, so I may not have any blogging time before I get on the road. If that happens, I promise I'll make the announcement as soon as I can.

I have the ARCs in my luggage, so they'll ship directly from where I'll be staying in Georgia. The swag will be shipped separately when I'm home -- I had hoped to include everything together, but a few of my print orders haven't come in yet.

Thanks again, everyone!

Giveaway! Win a Spookygirl: Paranormal Investigator ARC

It's contest time! Spookygirl's Violet wants to know what spooks you.

Two winners will be chosen at random. The first will receive one of the Spookygirl ARCs sent to me by Penguin/Dutton. The second will receive that Spookygirl ARC I bought on eBay. Both copies will be autographed; I'll be happy to personalize the autographs if the winners request it. I'll also send both winners some of the spooky swag I'm currently designing. (Swag will ship separately because some of it is still being printed.)

There are four ways to enter. Each task counts as one entry, so if you do all four, you'll be entered four times. (You can only win once, though!) I'll ship the ARCs anywhere in the world, so international entries are more than welcome!

Here are the ways to enter:

-Reply to this post and mention something that spooks you. Scary novel, horror movie, phobia -- anything goes! (My personal Big Crazy Fear is clowns. CLOWNS, MAN.)

-Mention the contest on your own blog with a link back to this post. Then leave a comment here with a link to your post so I can keep track of who's done this.

-Like Spookygirl: Paranormal Investigator on Facebook and share the status update about the contest on your own wall.

-Follow me on Twitter and retweet my tweet about the contest (or link to this post in one of your own tweets and include the hashtag #Spookygirl).

That's it! The contest will run through August 1, and I'll announce the winners on August 2.

I'm on the eBay!

So you guys . . . I kind of bought myself on eBay.

A few weeks ago I noticed someone had auctioned an ARC of Spookygirl: Paranormal Investigator for close to $27. A search brought me to a current auction for another copy of Spookygirl with a Buy It Now price of just over $5, but that auction listed the book as a hardcover.

Huh? Even I didn't have a hardcover in hand at the time. Curious (and egged on by several friends), I BINed the listing.

Instead of a mysteriously premature hardcover, I received what I expected -- an ARC. This is awesome news, because it means I have a spare copy. I've been planning to have a giveaway for an ARC anyway, and now I can have two winners instead of one.

I'll be announcing the details of the giveaway here, on Spookygirl's Facebook page, and on my Twitter really soon, and there'll be several ways to enter, so keep an eye out!

I have to admit -- it was pretty amusing to search for my last name on eBay and actually get a result. And no, I don't think the seller noticed his buyer was also the book's author.

The Road to Publication: Part Thirteen

[This is part 13 of a summary of Spookygirl’s journey toward publication. Use the Progress tag to access all related entries.]

 There it is, guys. Spookygirl: Paranormal Investigator in hardcover, all polished and finished and ready to take on the world.

I'd been told the advance hardcover would be arriving this month. When I got a package from Penguin Young Readers Group the other day, I knew what had to be inside. I tore it open right in the middle of the post office parking lot and squealed out loud. (So what if people needed to park? They could wait a minute; I was having a MOMENT.)

I am so, so happy with the finished product, and so grateful to everyone who had a hand in prepping Spookygirl for launch. Just over a month to go!

Back cover text

Dust jacket flap

Underneath the dust jacket, the cover is mint green with metallic purple type.

This is really happening, isn't it? It's really happening.

Other quick updates: I recently launched the bare bones of an author website. I'm also on Twitter now -- @JillBaguchinsky.

The Road to Publication: Part Twelve

[This is part 12 of a summary of Spookygirl’s journey toward publication. Use the Progress tag to access all related entries.]

This week brought a double-header of new experiences.

First, I spoke for the first time with my Penguin publicist. Tara is really friendly and enthusiastic -- she's a fan of ghost-hunting TV shows, so Spookygirl's subject matter is right up her alley. I'm learning all kinds of new info, like the various tiers of media outreach. Tara is also reaching out to local bookstores to set up meetings and signings.

I'll be doing some guest-blogging here and there, so keep an eye out for links to those posts as Spookygirl's release date looms ever closer.

Then I got an email from Dutton letting me know the first trade review for Spookygirl had just come in from Kirkus Reviews. I can't share the full text until it's published publicly in August, but it's a good one. Kirkus calls Spookygirl "a fun ride," which is just... Yay!

Totally made this face after reading the review. SMILES AND RAINBOWS EVERYWHERE.

"A fun ride" -- that pretty much sums up the last year or so!

But can he carry a tune?

A new film adaptation of The Great Gatsby? I was skeptical. It seemed unnecessary.

...Until I learned Baz Luhrmann was directing and co-writing. Um, yes please. I'm on board.

Is it wrong, though, that I sort of wish Baz had gone completely Moulin Rouge with this and made it a musical? Yeah, that's probably wrong. I don't care. Sing, Gatsby! Sing from inside a building shaped like an elephant!

Bad Form, Etsy

I've been asked several times whether I'll be selling copies of Spookygirl in my Etsy shop. The unfortunate answer is no, at least not on its own. Here's why.

When I'm not writing, I'm usually wrangling monsters. In other words, I design and hand-sew collectible stuffed monsters and other artisan plush, and I sell my work through my Etsy shop, Mint Conspiracy. I've been a member of Etsy since 2005, and my shop has been active since 2006. I've sold over 3500 items. I have tons of amazing customers, many of whom supported me fiercely during Spookygirl's journey through the 2011 ABNA contest.

As an indie artist, I've always appreciated Etsy's support of artists, craftspeople, and the general concept of handmade. With the exception of the vintage and supplies categories, anything sold on Etsy must be handmade, hand-assembled, or hand-altered by the seller or a defined collective (although production assistance is allowable in certain circumstances). Items that don't fit this definition are supposed to be dealt with by Etsy's Marketplace Integrity team.

I'd love to sell autographed copies of Spookygirl in my shop. I'd even planned on hand-altering them further with some simple artwork and/or including some exclusive handmade swag. Unfortunately, according to Eliza, a member of the Marketplace Integrity team, authors can't sell their books on Etsy unless those books are self-published or craft books. Eliza and I went back and forth on this a few times last week. I argued that selling copies of my own book is comparable to a painter selling commercially-created prints of a painting, which is totally Etsy-legal and cited in the site's rules under production assistance:

A third-party vendor may be used for intermediary tasks in some crafts. Acceptable examples include, but are not limited to: printing the seller's original artwork, metal casting from the seller's original mold, or kiln firing the seller's handcrafted ceramic work.

Eliza was unable (or unwilling) to clarify why having a publisher print copies of a book wouldn't count as production assistance. Yes, the book is technically being mass-produced -- but there's no clarification in the production assistance guidelines as to how many copies of a work can be created.

Keep in mind that Etsy considers a commercially-made pendant strung on a commercially-made chain to be a "hand-assembled necklace." That's Etsy-legal. Spookygirl isn't. I'm not trying to bash sellers of hand-assembled necklaces -- I design a lot of my own jewelry, so I know what goes into the assembly process. But I can't see how the time and effort I've put into writing, rewriting, and revising Spookygirl over more than four years makes it any less hand-crafted than a beaded necklace or a knitted scarf or an oil painting. I'm just very, very lucky in that I have some snazzy production assistance.

There are ways around this rule, including a solution suggested by one of my brilliant customers that I'll most likely be implementing. However, I shouldn't have to do that. I shouldn't have to search for loopholes. Writing is very much a craft, and seeing it disrespected by a site that claims to support craftspeople and artists (a site that I've supported for years with my listing and selling fees) is disappointing.

2012 ABNA Winners!

Congratulations to Alan Averill and Regina Sirois, winners of the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Get ready to learn alllllll about the publishing industry, you two. It's quite an education. And I mean that in a good way.

Averill's The Beautiful Land and Sirois' On Little Wings are available for preorder on Amazon, naturally.