Podcast: Writing Fiction & Publishing a Novel with Suzy Krause
In episode 27 of the Exhale Podcast, we’re chatting with novelist Suzy Krause all about her writing and publishing journey. Suzy used to write for C+C and a few of her essays are in The Magic of Motherhood. Since then, Suzy has made the transition from essay writing to novel writing and we wanted to chat with her about what that’s been like, as well as get her perspective on shepherding a book through the traditional publishing process.
Suzy is a writer and music-lover living in Regina, Saskatchewan. Her first novel, Valencia and Valentine released in May of 2019 and was inspired by a former job she had as a debt collector Her second book, Sorry I Missed You, is due out on June 2, 2020 -- just a year behind her first! -- and was a totally different publishing experience since she was writing it under contract. She shares how writing the two books differed, and why she’s pretty certain she won’t ever write under contract again. You can keep up with Suzy on her sometimes-up-to-date blog, follow her as an author on Goodreads, and see what she and her family are up to over on Instagram.
Resources we shared with you:
Suzy encourages everyone to check out their local library and see if they host a “Writer in Residence” -- they can offer valuable feedback on your book, pitch, query letter, and more.
Our prompt for you:
There’s this Twitter contest that comes around four times a year (ish) where writers tweet a 280-character pitch for their completed, polished, unpublished manuscripts. It’s called #PitMad, and if you tweet your pitch, agents and editors might request to see your query by liking or favoriting the tweeted pitch. Then send them your query letter knowing that they’re already interested in your book—it’s a little leg-up on the usual querying process.
Example: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe When escaping WWII 4 children go to magical, tyrannical land through wardrobe to fulfill prophecy & save both worlds. #PitMad #SFF
Most people hate writing elevator pitches for books they’ve already written (it is, in fact, the bane of every writer’s existence), but it’s actually so fun to write them for books that don’t even exist yet, and can be such a good creative exercise. The pressure is off and you can be as outlandish and ridiculous as you want—even wandering outside of your safe and familiar genres and styles. And who knows? Maybe you’ll get lucky and pitch yourself a great idea. Then all you need to do is write the book…
You could also do a whole query letter if you don’t like to limit yourself to 280 characters!
Our submission opportunity for you:
Popshot Magazine is one of Suzy’s favorite literary magazines—every page is absolutely gorgeous in both writing and illustration. It’s also such a fun magazine to submit to because each issue has a theme (trust, dreams, the future!). Submissions closed for The Mystery Issue on December 2nd, but keep your eyes out for their next window which should be open any day now in March of 2020!
Our quote we shared with you:
“It doesn’t happen all at once...You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” --- The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
From Suzy: I remember finding this quote again (two years ago now) and thinking it was a good depiction of becoming a “real” author, because you go through so much rejection and self-doubt and then you get an agent and you go through so much more rejection and you learn not to be so precious with your work and you realize that you’re not as special as you’d maybe hoped you were (which is why it ‘doesn’t happen to people who break easily’) but you also realize that you had it in you to get that far. And I didn’t even realize back then that the hardest part was still ahead: releasing a personal book out into the world and witnessing people’s reactions to it in real time, waiting to see if it sails or sinks, and dealing with all of the messy emotions that come with that. I now feel like, yes, I’m a “real” author, but WOW, do I feel loose in the joints and very shabby. But real. In conclusion, I firmly believe The Velveteen Rabbit is a publishing allegory (haha!).
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