How Do I Know What I Think Until I See What I Say?

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of blog posts about writing contracts and clauses. As a lawyer, the contracts part of the publishing business is one of the interesting parts of the business for me, and since I don't do publishing contracts myself, I thought I would gather up all the posts into one giant linkfest. Enjoy!* 1. Here's Jane at Dystel and Goderich Literary Agency on the importance of reading your contract, a post that was inspired by a publisher sending out a notice of amendment for their contracts. 2. Here's a post over at Bookends LLC by writer Sally MacKenzie, about how she realized there's no such thing as a "boilerplate" contract.** 3. Here's Agent Kristin at Pub Rants talking about why you might not want a multi-book deal. (Hint: it involves the term "cross-collateralization." 4. And here's Agent Kristin again, on how one unethical person can ruin things for the rest of us. (Long story short: an agent tampered ...

I used to be awesome at titles. For real. My fan fiction has awesome titles, catchy and intriguing and epic in scope. That has changed recently. I don't know what's up with me, but right now my titles are boring and descriptive. Agent Ted and I are agonizing* over what to call The Book. And my Next Book is titled something so boring I can't even bring myself to type it here for fear that you might fall asleep just reading it. And there are so many good titles on the market, recently.** The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Dead and the Gone, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Winter Girls, Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover, Shiver, ...I could go on and on and on. We're having a real title renaissance at the moment, I think, and, as a result, I'm having a bit of title jealousy. Jane, over at Dystel and Goderich, had a recent post about titles, and so did Eric over at Pimp My Novel . Neither of these posts have fixed my title malaise (yet!), but they're a goo...

I'm in the middle of revision. Again. I'm always in the middle of revision, if you want the honest truth: as a fast writer, someone who screams through a first draft and puts stuff like [INSERT DRAMATIC SCENE HERE] in my drafts, the moment I put something down on (figurative) paper, I'm already revising. Really, my writing is, like, 80% revision, and I have no fear of it. But sometimes, I get tired. We all do. As I talked about here, it's really important that the author isn't the one to give up on a book before anyone else does, but that's sometimes hard to remember the fifth (or eighth, or tenth) time through a manuscript. And, on top of being tired, there are the doubts. Because the fifth (or twelfth, or fourteenth) time through the book, there are moments when I look at the book and I think "jesus, this isn't very good." Unlike weariness with a project--which can be fought through--there's nothing to really do about the doubts. I can...

1. Elmo got a ticket this weekend. 87 in a 70.* But it's not my fault that Elmo doesn't really settle in until 75. I have a need for speed!** 2. I have been seeing a lot of baseball lately. A lot . And today was a very exciting game -- Brewers v. Pirates, which the Brewers won with a walkoff homer by Corey Hart. Not this Corey Hart: This Corey Hart: The thing that cracks me up is that Corey Hart, the baseball player, was born in 1982, which is a mere TWO YEARS before Corey Hart, the musician, became famous for "Never Surrender" and "Sunglasses at Night." Sometimes, the world works in mysterious ways. 3. I love high summer. The only thing bad about summer is that it's followed by fall. Stupid fall. 4. I'm visiting with my niece this week. It's only the second day, and I have already seen enough Hannah Montana to last me a lifetime. ::shiver:: ~~~ * Actual exchange between me and the polite officer who stopped me: Him: Do you know...

My very own beloved Agent Ted has a BOOK OUT . I know! You can buy it here from Amazon, or here from Barnes and Noble. (Mine is on order from my local bookstore, but I should get it next week!) Congratulations Agent Ted!

1. I get what Swiffer is trying to do with those commercials where the broom, abandoned by its owner/operator, finds love with a bowling ball or a lawn flamingo, but I wonder if they realize that they are implying that the broom was having sex with a person. Think before you take the joke too far, Swiffer. 2. I love Friday Night Lights . I go on and on about why, but if you're watching the show, you already know, and if you're not watching the show, then you won't believe me anyways. 3. Revisions have eaten my brain. Fortunately, I wasn't using it for much anyways, so it doesn't seem to have affected my day-to-day life. 4. We had thunderstorms this weekend in Ohio. I love thunderstorms. I love them even more when no branches fall on my roof of hit my gutter, but I guess you can't have everything. Seriously, though, if I could live in a place where it's almost always summer, I would.

1. Even though I am not a championship marksman, I am really enjoying Top Shot on Discovery Channel. The funny thing is, when you're dealing with a bunch of people who are experts at handling firearms, you're not going to get a lot of really excitable drama queens -- that's sort of the opposite of the personality who becomes a marksman, you know? -- so the show is just about a lot of really talented people making really hard shots. It's delightful. 2. I've been thinking about the title for The Book a lot lately. Normally, I'm phenomenal at titles, but The Book has been particularly challenging. Agent Ted and I have settled on a couple of titles, all of which were adequate and none of which have been awesome. sigh. It's getting to the point where I'm going to open the manuscript to a random page and pick a word.* 3. I don't like vacuuming, but I like having vacuumed. Vacuuming is like exercise in that way. 4. Live Free or Die Hard is more...