Manuscript hints and Publisher news

This is an incredibly helpful blog entry by famous author Kim Harrison, from her blog over at wordpress.  She goes into formatting and spacing and all of the nitty gritty type details publishers are looking for that we're all dying to figure out (or maybe that's just me and everyone else already knows these things??).

http://kimharrison.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/formatting-a-manuscript-one-way-to-do-it/

Also of news is this blurb from publisher Harper Voyager (click the link to go directly to the submission guidelines page):

"For the first time in over a decade, Harper Voyager are opening the doors to unsolicited submissions in order to seek new authors with fresh voices, strong storytelling abilities, original ideas and compelling storylines. So, if you believe your manuscript has these qualities, then we want to read it!

We’re seeking all kinds of adult and young adult speculative fiction for digital publication, but particularly epic fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, horror, dystopia and supernatural. For more idea of the type of books we love to read and publish, check out our authors and their titles at www.harpervoyagerbooks.com"

This is great news to anyone who is ready with a manuscript that they're dying to submit to a publisher.  I am not anywhere near this stage, but maybe some of you are.  It sounds very exciting and makes me want to hurry and finish my book in the next week so I can make the deadline.  If you are anywhere close I'd say go for it!  Happy Writing! :)

-Kiera

28,734 words and counting

Finding the time...

So remember how I was all excited for school to start because it would mean I had two full hours five days a week of uninterrupted writing time?  Well the first week went really well.  I averaged about 1400 words a day for the first four days.  The fifth day I fell asleep and took a two hour nap instead of writing.  Then came Labor Day weekend.  We had company over and any time to write went out the window.  So come the next Tuesday I get on the computer to write some more.  I only managed 600 words that day because I wanted to watch this silly show I had been catching up with on Netflix.  But I figured any words are better than no words and shrugged it off.  Then Wednesday I totaled my car.  I decided that day deserved a nap.  Thursday and Friday as well (naps are awesome btw).  So here we are to Monday again and if I wanted to add up all of my missed days I could think that I was about 6400 words behind schedule.  But that's gets kind of depressing so I am choosing to think more in terms of I've added five days (so a week) to my writing time.  Had I continued at the 1400 words/day pace I would have finished my first draft at the end of October.  As it is we are now going into November.  But that's assuming 80k words which I may not need to tell the story.

Also, once again I feel like the story is boring and I don't want to write it and if I don't want to write it then no one will want to read it, etc, etc...  However, even if it is the worst manuscript in the history of writing (and surely it can't be THAT bad) I think I should still soldier on if for no other reason than to get to my next book which has a much more interesting plot (in my opinion).  What do you do when you're sick of your own story?

-Kiera
61 pages (88 paperback pages),
22,040 words and counting.