Next we have S.J. Kincaid, author of Insignia.
S.J. is here to give aspiring writers some advice.
If
I could give one piece of advice to aspiring career writers, it would
be this: believe in yourself. Forget the Cinderella-type stories,
basically some variation of the humble, unassuming person who works very
hard suddenly achieving great success as the result of hard work paying
off. Vastly undervaluing oneself leads to nothing but other people
doing the same thing to you.
Every
phase of publishing, from querying your manuscript to agents, to
accepting a bid from a publisher, to selling it to the public, basically
depends upon one thing: seeming like you're way more awesome than you
often feel you are.
Let's
take querying, for example. It was very difficult for me at first,
because let's face it, conventional wisdom discourages people from
bragging, and queries demand you do just that. You have to go and boast
about how great your book is in order to convince an agent your book
really is that great, i.e.: "This manuscript will appeal to audiences
that like X and X".
You
honestly don't know that. You’re making a bald-faced assertion about
the greatness of your manuscript, and trying to say it with a straight
face to persuade someone on the other end of the e-mail to consider
reading your work. If you come across as tentative or humble, then you
just convince them your manuscript is crap and you won’t get a full
request.
Why
do you think so many incompetent, egotistical douchebags end up in
positions of power in this world? It’s because if you strongly believe
in yourself, however deluded or without merit that belief is, others buy
it. Plain and simple. People take their cues externally as to how to
perceive you. Don’t believe me? Watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYU1a0lTTTw
When
it comes to having an agent, same principle applies. If you let people
treat you like a secondary concern, they will. When it comes to
publishers, if your manuscript is easily obtained, odds are, it will be
less valued than the manuscript of a contentious author who gets a
vastly overinflated price for his or her manuscript. In the latter
scenario, a marketing department will make very sure they are able to
justify that overinflated price, and this is simply due to the
psychological fact that their perception of this writer’s worth is
shaped by the effort it took for them to obtain their book.
So,
in short, value your work because that’s what ultimately causes others
to value it as well. You could write a glorious epic that astounds
people with its genius, but if you present it sheepishly as though it
sucks, people may read it with a mind to finding faults in it—rather
than relishing its glorious, epic genius as they should. Best of luck!
"More than anything, Tom Raines
wants to be important, though his shadowy life is anything but that. For
years, Tom’s drifted from casino to casino with his unlucky gambler of a
dad, gaming for their survival. Keeping a roof over their heads depends
on a careful combination of skill, luck, con artistry, and staying
invisible.
Then one day, Tom stops being invisible. Someone’s been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he’s offered the incredible—a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elitemilitary academy .
There, Tom’s instincts for combat will be put to the test, and if he
passes, he’ll become a member of the Intrasolar Forces, helping to lead
his country to victory in World War Three. Finally, he’ll be someone
important: a superhuman war machine with the tech skills that every
virtual-reality warrior dreams of. Life at the Spire holds everything
that Tom’s always wanted—friends, the possibility of a girlfriend, and a
life where his every action matters—but what will it cost him?
Then one day, Tom stops being invisible. Someone’s been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he’s offered the incredible—a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elite
To celebrate S.J. would like to give a book to 1 person!
This is US only. If you are International and have an address you can use please enter.
All giveaways this month end on October 7th.
Insignia has been one of my favorite reads of 2012, but I got my copy from the library and would love a legitimate copy for myself! <3 Thank you so much for the opportunity to win!
ReplyDeleteAll the reviews I've read has had me adding this to my wishlist.
ReplyDeleteAwesome advice. The best to give anyone. :D
ReplyDeleteGreat advice! As an aspiring writer, I'll definitely try to keep this in mind down the road. Thanks for the great giveaway - I've been dying to read this book!!
ReplyDeleteGreat advice for aspiring writers. I really want to read Insignia, sounds amazing and all I've hear are fantastic reviews of it.
ReplyDeleteThis book has been on my TBR pile for it seems like forever. It looks so good. Great advise for aspiring writers.
ReplyDelete