Covers

I've got several books out on submission. The waiting is killing me, so I need to blog to distract myself. I'm never really sure what to blog about. If you have suggestions or questions, please comment with them because I am at a loss. A lot.

Anyway, today I got a query with attached cover image. It was actually rather nice looking for a homemade cover. I'd almost rather it be the ugliest thing in the world (which does happen occasionally with queries). See, unless you are a very powerful famous author, you aren't going to have any approval over your cover image. I can't think of any debut authors who've even had cover consultation (meaning input but not the final say) in their contract.

You might think this is is mean and terrible. How dare publishers not consult you? But the truth is that they have very talented, and lovely people who make covers for a living. Sometimes these people miss the mark and that is always unfortunate when a cover is bad. But it's never an author's fault that a cover is bad, because--again--author's don't have control over that.

Sending me a cover image with your query only shows me that you don't know how the industry works. Which means I'd have to explain it to you (downside) and that you have wasted your time (downside x2).

Geek Girl Con

Tickets have gone on sale for Geek Girl Con 2012! It's in August this year. I missed the initial announcement; I feel like a bad geek girl. Buy your tickets here!

Sadly, I'm not going to attend for the second year in a row. Sob. But I still want to promote it to anyone out there reading this in the Seattle area. I think it's a really good thing. I'm one of those people who has been quizzed on knowledge of fantasy books and comic books by guys who don't believe that I could possibly know this stuff.

Queries

I read queries this afternoon. If you sent me anything before this morning (March 1) then you should've received a response. If not, then I probably didn't get it. Please send again!

I know I don't get nearly as many queries as some of the bigger agents out there. Probably not even a 1/10th. I'm not sure how they do it. After a little while reading through all the new names and ideas, my eyes start to cross and I can't read anymore.

Unfortunately, I feel like I am kinder to the queries that I happen to read at the beginning of day than I am those toward the end. Taking breaks is the only way to keep me sane. I probably won't read any more for another few days.