In like a lion…

It’s March, and we’re getting peeks of spring here in North Carolina, in between snowstorms. The days are getting longer, and I know I’m not the only one who is grateful the sun is setting later.

This month, I’m bringing you an introduction to traditional publishing, books I loved this month, and an interview with debut author Lily Parker.

Elizabeth

Traditional Publishing Part 1: How to Prepare to Get an Agent

If you want to be traditionally published—that is, to be picked up by a Big 5 publishing house—it’s not quite as easy as you might think. Here’s what you have to do first.

Often, when I tell people I wrote a book, they ask me what the next steps are. And, to be honest, I’m often reticent to get into it because it’s a lot of explaining and there’s a lot of jargon. But I’ll break down the process of getting traditionally published, and you can see everything that goes into getting a book deal.

So, you’ve written a book, you’ve finished a draft, and you’re ready to get it published. Not so fast, I say. The first thing you need to do is get some eyes on it. These are beta readers, and they are the people who will read your pages and give you feedback. This is essential because after writing a book, I am the first to tell you that you are too close to your own writing to be objective about it. It can be hard to take feedback, at least at first, but once you figure it out, it will help your writing so much.

How do you find beta readers? Twitter, Threads, Reddit, Bluesky…the possibilities are endless. There are programs where you can get matched with critique partners.

After your book is in good shape, you’re going to want to put on your marketing hat, because it’s time to put together your query package. The query package is what sells your book to agents. It’s a different skill set from writing a book—you need to know how to market yourself.

The first thing you’ll need to do is pitch your book to literary agents. Agents are the ones who, in turn, pitch your book to editors at publishing houses and help negotiate your book deal.

So, what do you need to pitch your book to agents? You need a query, which is a 350-ish word letter that describes your book and you as the author. You need a pitch, which is a sentence or two describing the book. And you’ll likely need a synopsis, which is a longer document where you describe the plot of your book, spoilers and all.

Different agents want different things, but they will all typically want the query, comparative titles, and a short pitch. There are plenty of folks on social media who will take a look at query packages and help for a small fee. There’s also Fiverr, where you can browse people who provide the service.

The last thing you should do before you send out queries into the world is research agents. All agents are not created equal, and there is no certification or licensing to become one. That means literally anyone can go on Twitter and say they’re an agent, even if they’ve never done it before.

Manuscript Wishlist is a great website where you can search agents for free and see what their requirements are for accepting queries and when they’re open to queries. Many agents use QueryTracker, another good site for searching agents. You can track your queries there for free (and if you pay the $25 a year fee, you get even more access to data).

If you want to shell out $25 a month, Publisher’s Marketplace lists deals agents do. It will show what editors they work with and what kind of deals they typically do. It’s expensive, but getting it for a month to do a search before you start is well worth it.

As you can see, there’s a lot to do before you even begin sending out queries to agents—and I did this as a hobby.

Whew, that was a lot! Stay tuned for next month—I’m going to discuss how to survive the query process.

Books I Obsessed Over in February

I read 11 books in February. Here are the ones that I can’t stop thinking about.

Fast Five with Lily Parker

For my second Fast Five, I have Lily Parker, a debut author who has 3!!! celebrity romance books coming out this year.

Meet Lily Parker!

The Best Wrong Move, my debut spicy rom-com in a three-book series, releases April 24, available for pre-order on Amazon.

The Best Wrong Move follows Olivia Hillcrest, a NYC morning show host, after her boyfriend publically rejects her marriage proposal on air. Once her cringe-worthy reaction goes viral, she escapes the internet trolls by diving into a long-term rental on the North Shore of Oahu to hide out while plotting her next career move. Once settled in, she discovers her ex had the same idea and is renting the unit on the other side of her oceanfront townhouse.

Olivia tries to get out of the eight-week Airbnb reservation, but instead agrees to fake date the Airbnb owner, who happens to be 10 outta 10 hot with his own mysterious past. It's a win-win for them both. He gets to keep a renter in place, while she gets the opportunity to make her ex jealous without having to return to New York earlier than planned. A sizzling, laugh-out-loud, fake dating romance kicks off in which Olivia discovers that sometimes the best wrong move can make everything right.

You can connect with Lily on Instagram.

Pantser or plotter?

Both! When I first started writing full-length novels, I was a solid pantser. Now that I'm heading into my second three-book series, I've evolved into a combo writer.

First, I'll create an outline of the entire book or series with an overview of the twists and turns we're going to take. Then, I'll line up a character sketch for each of my main and side characters since there's a lot of overlap for each character between books.

Finally, I'll type that first sentence. Most of the time, my characters are wildly strong-willed so I'll have to adjust the original outline to bend to their wishes, but I try to stay on point for the most part.

Drafting or editing?

Honestly? I love both. Putting the first sentence or chapter down on paper is like diving off a high dive for me. I take my sweet time climbing the ladder and standing on the edge, wondering if I can really do this. But, by the time I am done with the first chapter or a prologue, I'm falling in love with my cast of characters all over again and can hardly stop writing until the first draft is done.

However, I know how much better a book gets with each round of edits, so I've grown to love the revising part of the process as well. Seeing how much a book can improve with a few small (or large) tweaks is incredibly rewarding.

What's the best book you read in the past year?

I adored Funny Story by Emily Henry. She is one of my icons and I will read anything she writes.

Which of your characters do you identify with the most?

Easily Olivia from The Best Wrong Move. Olivia has this dream of escaping her perfect, traditional path in life to do what she was always meant to do. I relate to that so much. In fact, there's a passage in the book that came straight from my gut and I knew I was talking about both Olivia and myself when I wrote it: "Now that I'm here, giving myself permission to run from the problems back home without having to fix them? It feels unbelievably good. Downright addictive, even. Like this taste of imperfection spreading across my tongue is more exhilarating than I could have possibly imagined. A drug I didn't know I needed until it was coursing through my veins."

I think most women can relate to this idea of making peace with imperfection and realizing how good it feels to openly let ourselves be human instead of superhuman. Women are often the glue that holds everything together, and so often expected to impress with perfection the whole way as well.

The idea of bucking tradition and allowing a warm blanket of impefection to seep into our lives is a deliciously addicting feeling. I turn 40 this year and I've realized that the older I get, the more settled into myself I become -- but in the best way. It's an amazing feeling to forget everything that was drilled into you as start to really hit your stride with this big, beautiful life drawn out ahead.

What advice would you give to a new writer?

Sit down and write. It's the only thing that'll turn you into a writer. But also, believe in yourself enough to surround yourself with people who not only believe in you as well, but will give you the honesty and feedback you need to become a better writer than you were yesterday. However solitary it may be at the start, writing is a team sport in the end. If you don't surround yourself with solid sounding boards who will genuinely want to help you succeed, it's going to be a lot harder to get where you want to go. Find writing partners, skilled/honest beta readers, and an editor you trust entirely. That type of team is worth its weight in gold.

If you’re an author interested in being featured in the Fast Five, shoot me an email!

I’d love to hear from you!

Anything you want me to talk about? Questions you have about the writing and querying process? Authors you want for the Fast Five? Shoot me an email.