Fun w/ Keyword Searches

I came across this idea while browsing blogs recently and can?t for the life of me find it again. So if it was you, let me know and I?ll give you full credit. Otherwise, tough chicken nuggets!

As bloggers we often check to see how people are finding us. Sometimes the keywords make sense. Sometimes not so much. But hey if people need this information so much that they are searching for it, who am I to deny them? So with no further ado, here are some of my recent top search hits along with clarifying information.

#1 j. scott savage, j scott savage, j. scott. savage, j scott savage water keep, j scott savage blog

Yep. That?s me, my book, and my blog. The period after J is optional. Period after Scott is gratuitous. There has been a lot of confusion over what to call me. My wife has had quite a bit of success with, ?Hey you.? As in ?Hey you, get off the computer before your dinner gets cold.? And ?Hey, you better look at the garbage disposal. I think it just fell off the bottom of the sink.? It had. (Note for future plumbers, garbage disposals actually just twist on and off. So don?t twist unless you want it off.) I actually answer to either Jeff or Scott, but not J. I?ll do another blog soon explaining in mind-numbing detail how I came to be the two named wonder.

#2 The second highest search is not surprisingly, ?getting published with Shadow Mountain.?

If I could guarantee this, I would be able to make a living just off author fees. As I?ve said many times before, Shadow Mountain rocks. They are a great publisher. I can?t guarantee they?ll publish you. But I can provide a little additional information.

Shadow Mountain is the national imprint of Deseret Book. They are both based out of the same headquarters, but although DB is a primarily LDS (Mormon) publisher, SM is not. The books they publish are national content sold in bookstores across the US. Some of their most successful books have included the Fablehaven Series and several books by author Jason Wright, including The Wednesday Letters and The Christmas Jar. Both Wright and Mull have hit the NYT bestseller lists.

Shadow Mountain is open to both mainstream and YA novels. They do not require an agent, but they will work with agents. In the YA market, they will consider fantasy and non-fantasy works. One thing to be aware of when submitting to Shadow Mountain is that, although they do not want religious specific content, they are still looking at books with family content (no language, gore, sex, etc.) You can find more info at http://www.shadowmountain.com/

#3 Chris Schoebinger

Chris is the head honcho at Shadow Mountain. He is an incredibly savvy guy, and can take credit for much of the success at Shadow Mountain. Very sharp on all aspects of publishing and marketing. A little goofy, but hey aren?t we all? (Just kidding Chris, if you?re you know, reading this.) Chris does not take submissions directly but is very involved in acceptance down the road.

#4 Magic tour blogspot

Hmmm. Confusing. Are we taking about a blogspot for magic tours or a magic tour of blogspots? I?ll just assume it was someone checking on my Find Your Magic blogspot tour. At the end of my tour I?ll do a full recap with stats, numbers, and impressions.

#5 I look like John Depp

It?s true. I?m not gonna lie. I get confused for him a lot. When, you know, I wonder aimlessly around Tortugas with a bottle of Rum in my hand.

#6 How to do Savage magic tricks.

Talk a lot and try to say funny things to the audience so no one notices you are a lousy magician. There?s a reason I turned to writing.

#7 What monster is best for magic finding?

Trolls. Definitely trolls. Or ogres. Actually water elementals have incredible finding powers. But they don?t really count as monsters.

#8 Find your magic savage.

Look in the last place you left him.

#9 Are magic hooks any good?

No. But magic worms will keep you catching big mouth bass all day.

#10 Perfect publisher vanity

Well clearly it would have lots of room for books, a place for red pens, and a big mirror. Because editors have big egos. Unlike us humble writers.

#11 Lisa Mangum

Lisa actually held the number one spot for quite a while. But after the whole burger-gate incident, she?s really dropped in the polls. I?ve heard she?s looking for a new image consultant. Lisa is the real brains behind Shadow Mountain and she saved me from having to do something to my first chapter that I really didn?t want. All hail Queen Mangum.

We also have two new stops on the blog tour:

Kyle wrote a maniacal review at his blog Book Review Maniac

Jaime Theler nearly got me killed by falling off ancient ruins or getting swatted by an angry German. You can read her review here. And our fun Q&A here.

Book Stuff and Protagonists

Just got back from meeting with Chris, Angie, Patrick, and Roberta, at Shadow Mountain headquarters. For those of you who haven?t been there, it?s right across from Temple Square in Salt Lake. Next door is where they are rebuilding the whole downtown mall area. I could sit in their conference room all day and watch the construction equipment work. What is it about watching other people work that is so relaxing? Apparently I?m becoming enough of a regular now that the older gentleman at the front desk recognizes me. (Hey, I?ll take whatever fleeting fame I can get!)

Anyway, the purpose of the meeting was to finalize my tour schedule, go over my school presentation, and?as a surprise?they gave me an actual dust jacket for Water Keep. Whoo hoo!
So here?s the official tour schedule. September 22 and 23rd I will be in Houston. On the 24th and 25th, I will be in Phoenix. And the 26th I will be in Portland. The following week I will be in Pleasant Hill, Ca, Roseville, CA, and Bountiful, Utah. This is still subject to a little bit of change, but if any of you are in those areas and would like to schedule an event, let me know. Also if you have contacts in the PTA in those areas, that would be much appreciated! I can?t wait. I will definitely be doing more visits during the year, so if you?ve got a great idea about where I should come, let me know.

The next thing on the agenda was my school presentation. This involved doing magic tricks in front of the whole crew, telling stories of my misspent youth, and dressing Patrick and Roberta up in capes and top hats. I have to admit the last part was pretty fun. Still working out the details of the presentation. But I can tell you it will include this picture of yours truly and his cousin. (Okay, I?ll admit it?s a pretty goofy pic. But at least it wasn?t as bad as an author who shall remain nameless. His childhood pics were apparently so bad they were pulled, for fear of frightening small children.)

Finally I got to see my actual dust jacket today. I keep running my fingers over the embossed lettering and sighing. Not sure what the other employees in my office think about this as they are keeping a provident distance.

The last item I wanted to discuss is what makes a good protagonist. Recently I posted about the ten top movie villains and got some great feedback about what makes a good villain. It was interesting how many of the best villains are women. Kathy Bates?shudder. You liked villains that weren?t as expected. Voice of the villain seemed to be a big deal, as was believable motivation.

So what makes a good protagonist? Does he or she have to be likeable? Or do we just need to empathize with them? I?m rereading Lord Foul?s bane. The protagonist, Thomas Covenant is really kind of a jerk. I mean he rapes an innocent young woman shortly after arriving in the fantasy world. But yet, we see what has turned him into such an unlikable person. His leprosy has alienated him from people so much, that the girls? acceptance basically breaks him.

What makes a good protagonist for you?

Oh, and also a couple more fun stops on the blog tour:

Rachelle and I floated down the Snake River. If you can't tell from my books, I've got a little thing about snakes. Hope the name isn't because of the reptiles! You can read our Q&A at Rachelle Writes

An interview with the my friend and fellow author Marsha Ward of Writer in the Pines

An interview with Jewel of Jewel's World

An interview with Dominique of The Book Vault

Q&A with Lisa Mangum, Aquisitions Editor at Shadow Mountain Publishing

Okay, so I was going to begin this post by lavishly praising Lisa as a saint to downtrodden authors, who gives her lunch money to starving children and is the picture of beauty, wit, and intelligence. Then I saw her answer to the last question, which was clearly sent in by some wise and insightful reader. So with that in mind, here's Lisa, some woman who I met at a writing event.

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Q&A

1) If I wanted to publish with Shadow Mountain, how much would I have to pay to get the book published? What fees does the author pay and what fees does the publisher pay?

There are essentially two different kinds of publishers. A publishing house like Shadow Mountain doesn?t require the author to pay any money up front to get a book published. The author signs a contract and receives a royalty. Of course, since it?s essentially free to submit a manuscript, we get lots and lots of submissions and can only pick a select few to publish.

In the self-publishing or vanity publishing world, the author pays upfront for a large portion of the costs to have their book published. But, since the author is paying, self-publishing or vanity publishing outfits don?t have to be as selective in their decisions.

2) ?Leven Thumps" and "Fablehaven" have such amazing, elaborate websites, and, as a professional graphic designer, I know that those could not have been cheap! I just wondered if Shadow Mountain, being a relatively small publisher, has the means to do that with all its new titles or maybe just the "New York Times Bestsellers"?

Many of our titles have some presence on the Internet and we are doing more every season. We felt it was important to have a strong website for our children?s fantasy titles since many of those authors go on tour to promote their books.

3) What kind of material is Shadow Mountain looking for right now? What kind of things do they NOT want?

Short answer: We?re looking for the next big hit. :) Our door is always open to all kinds of submissions?fiction, non-fiction, children?s, young adult. Publishing is such a fluid business that it?s more of a ?we?ll know it when we see it? situation than it is a ?send us X manuscript now.?

4) What's the process after they receive a submission?

Once a submission arrives, I log it in and send the author a postcard to let them know we received it in good condition (and whether or not we receive a SASE). Then I start the submission through the review process. We have several people in-house who help with the review process and if the submission gets enough more ?thumbs-down? than ?thumbs-up? from our reviewers, then we?ll send a rejection letter back to the author. But if the submission gets more ?thumbs-up,? then I?ll pass it along to one of our Product Directors, who will make the final decision about whether or not to publish the project. Once the decision is made, we?ll send the author a letter or an email (or sometimes call on the phone) to let them know what we decided to do.

5) On Shadow Mountain's website, it mentions sending query letters and either a few chapters or the entire manuscript. They prefer physical hard copies. My question is, can a query letter be sent via e-mail, or should it be sent by "snail mail" as well?

I don?t mind if query letters are sent via email, though I prefer hard copies. I tend to do better at tracking a submission (and responding to it promptly) if I have an actual letter or envelope or package that takes up space on my desk instead of an ethereal, easy-to-miss email buried in my Inbox.

6) Also, their site mentions children's books. What types of children's books are they most interested in right now?

Again, we want children?s books that will stand out from the pack, that are unique and original. The kind of children?s book that we just couldn?t pass on publishing. :)

7) What kinds of things do you see in a query letter that make you go, ?Wow, I want to read more?? What kinds of things make you pass?

I think it?s really important for fiction queries to include a detailed plot summary. A two-sentence summary isn?t going to help me make a decision and sometimes it?s easier to just say ?no? to those kind of queries than it is to say ?send me three chapters.? I also think it?s important to include in a query letter some hint of what your marketing plans are for the book, or some indication that you?ve done your homework about competing products and how your project is different.

I hate query letters or cover letters that are filled with errors and typos. Or letters that are missing important author contact information. I?m just an editor, not a mind reader, so always include your full name, full address, and as many phone numbers or email address as you have.

8) How was Shadow Mountain so fortunate to get such a handsome and articulate author as Mr. Savage?

Oh, we only picked up Savage because our current rising star and best-selling author James Dashner suggested we take a look at him. And since James is so talented and handsome and articulate, how could we deny him anything? :)

All joking aside, it?s true that networking is a powerful tool that can sometimes help you to get published. Get to know potential publishers and what they are publishing; get to know their editors and what they specialize in; get to know their authors and what they are writing. The more you know about the business, the better chance you?ll have of matching your work to the perfect publisher.

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Alright fine. Since I know she really loves me more than James and was clearly speaking tongue in cheek. Lisa is an amazing person and editor. It is because of her belief and encouragement that I have the opportunity to publish the Farworld series. Shadow Mountain is lucky to have her. I owe her at least half my royalties--not that I'm going to give them to her after that. But she richly deserves them. Not to mention that she penned this Q&A in arterial blood from her death bed. Thanks, Lisa! You are awesome.

It's Not About Falling . . . It's About Getting Up

Unfortunately Lisa got sick on Friday so it looks like I won?t be able to post her answers to your questions until at least Monday, but today I thought I?d talk about something every writer deals with. I know what you?re thinking. If you?ve been writing very long at all, you?ve been told many times that a writer has to have a thick skin so they can deal with the dreaded ?R? word. REJECTION! Rejection is a part of writing. You have to learn to live with it. Those are the mantras you hear at every writing convention.

But nope. I?m not going to talk about rejection. Why? Because I hate rejection. Who doesn?t? We all pretend it?s okay. We say things like, ?Rejection is good for you.? And, ?Each rejection brings you one step closer to getting published.? To me that?s like saying, ?Falling down the stairs is good for you. Each time you fall down you get closer to reaching the top.? Does that make sense to you? If someone gave you that advice as you started to climb a staircase would you take it? If so, remind me not to stand behind you.

What I want to write about is not getting rejected, but succeeding. Let?s say you wanted to ask a girl to go out on a date. (If you are a girl feel free to replace girl with boy.) You?ve talked to all the other girls and this is the one for you. She?s funny, smart, attractive. She can hit a 3-2 curveball, bowl 217, and she loves the Lord of the Rings movies. This is the one.

You walk up to her and say, ?Hello, would you like to go to a movie with me Saturday night??

She looks you over, wipes a crumb of egg salad sandwich from your chin, and says, ?Sorry. I?m going bowling with my family that night.?

Conventional rejection wisdom says you should nod stoically, square your shoulders, and say, ?I understand.? Then walk away and find someone else to ask out. After all, she?s a busy girl. She probably wasn?t a good match for you. Getting turned down will make you stronger. Learn from it. Next time check your face for crumbs. Work on a better pitch. Besides rejection brings you one step closer to getting accepted. Go home and eat a candy bar. Get enough sugar into your system and soon you?ll feel better.

I hope that sounds like total bunk to you. Wouldn?t you check to see if Saturday was better? If she was that great wouldn?t you at least put up a fight? If not, maybe you didn?t deserve her after all.

Let me tell you a little secret about getting published. It?s not about how many times you get rejected. It?s about how persistent you are. I don?t know the details of Obert Skye. But I can tell you Brandon Dorman had the first book he submitted to Shadow Mountain rejected. James Dashner had the first two books he submitted to Shadow Mountain rejected. I initially had Farworld rejected. That?s three out of four Shadow Mountain fantasy authors rejected.

What did Brandon Dorman do? He asked Chris Schoebinger what kind of book they?d like to publish. What did James Dashner do? He scheduled a lunch to discuss book ideas, but decided to write a synopsis and three chapters to send Chris and Lisa before the lunch. What did I do? I e-mailed Chris and Lisa and called them, to understand why they rejected Farworld and to see how I could get the issue resolved. Now rejection proponents might say we succeeded because we were rejected. I say we succeeded because we were persistent.

I received an e-mail from a very good author friend of mine who lives in Houston. She?s just received a rejection from Shadow Mountain last week. Typically when I get rejection messages, they are very depressing. Understandably, the authors are hurt, they feel lousy, they want to quit. Often chocolate is a major topic of discussion. But let me tell you what my friend asked in her e-mail. Turns out she has a 1on1 meeting with Lisa next week at a writers? conference. My friend really liked the feedback Lisa had given her and wanted to know whether James and I would suggest reworking the bad parts of the book between now and then, or coming up with more ideas. She really felt SM would benefit from what she had to offer and was looking for the best way to convince them of that.

Here is my answer to her. First of all, you totally rock! I am so dang proud of you. Not only are you a great writer, but you also believe so completely in yourself that giving up was never an option. I would recommend you do both. Rethink your rejected story, so you can discuss how you would fix it if Lisa is open to that. But also come prepared with a handful of ideas for other stories. You?ve got fifteen minutes to get an editor at an awesome publisher excited about what you have to offer, so go in with both barrels loaded. True you only have a couple of days until the conference, but making a good impression on someone like Lisa is what it?s all about. Find the time.

Last year at this time, I was at the same conference. Back then, Lisa was in the middle of reading my manuscript. I honestly was too scared to talk to her, but James, who is the ultimate brown-noser, made me go over. I actually had a close call where I nearly sat at Lisa?s table wearing my wife?s name badge, but thanks to a helpful tip from a fellow attendee, I averted if not disaster, then at least serious embarrassment. I?ll admit I wasn?t sure what to think when Lisa started off our conversations with things she thought I should fix in my book. But I did fix those things, she passed it on to Chris, and ultimately I got invited to lunch with them (which is a pretty funny story in and of itself.)

How many times has persistence paid off in my life? Well my literary agent rejected me twice before taking me on. My wife totally blew off my first date request. In fact she told me she?d call me back with a day that would work, and I didn?t hear from her for over a year. The publisher of my previous books told me she was sure Shadow Mountain had no interest in Farworld. I?ve probably rewritten this book easily ten to fifteen times, and I?m still making minor tweaks.

There?s a poem called ?The Race,? that says something to the effect of, ?It?s how many times you fall. It?s how many times you get up.? I don?t believe in falling down the stairs. I believe in getting to the top. If I could get there on my first try, I?d do it. If I fall, I?m going to be ticked off about it. But I?m not going to sit there and cry. I?m going to try again, and again, and again.
My good friend?s name is Tami. I tell you that because I want you to watch Shadow Mountain?s coming releases. I don?t know when it will happen, but I have every confidence that in the not too distant future you will see her name as one of their authors.

Questions for Shadow Mountain

First let me say thanks for all of the support and encouragement on the blog tour. Out of nineteen votes on the poll, eighteen people said they?d be willing to buy a book they read about on a blog. Of course I guess you could expect that from bloggers. But still that?s even better odds than the dentists who recommended Trident for their patients who chew gum. I?ll take those odds.

I talked to my editor today and it looks like the ARCs will be ready in early May. So I should be able to start moving forward with the blog tour in April. I?ve got about 30-40 bloggers who expressed interest?either through comments or e-mails. So now I?ve just got to figure out a grass roots way to reach another 100+ bloggers. Maybe word of mouth will spread once I actually start signing people up. Thanks for the Librarything idea. As soon as I have a book available, I?ll join as an author and see if there is more interest there. I assume Shadow Mountain will do the early review copies there as well, like they did with ?The 13th Reality.?

I also have a meeting with the art department to discuss my cover on Friday. It?s like getting a little hint at what might be wrapped under the Christmas tree. Can?t wait!

Since several people have asked me about my publisher and the process of selling a book, I was thinking maybe we could do a Q&A with Lisa, the acquisitions editor at Shadow Mountain. If you?ve got any questions you?d like her, post them here and I?ll see if I can get her to answer them before the weekend. She?s pretty busy with a lot of projects, but I?ll see what I can do.