Posted in Career Advice Generation Y Writing on July 2, 2008 at 2:00 pm
One of the best perks of my job as a writer is that I get a lot of free books to read and review. Normally I don’t write about fiction, but today I’m writing about fiction. Why? Because young novelist Julie Kraut hugely impressed me by following one of my golden rules of networking.
Julie, a self-described “eager first time author,” reached out by email and offered to send a copy of her new novel, Hot Mess: Summer in the City. I said sure. The book arrived with a press release, plus something I’d never received with a book: a little pink envelope with “Lindsey” handwritten on it (points for spelling my name correctly). Inside the envelope was a lovely note on pretty stationery, thanking me for giving Hot Mess a read.
Julie, you had me at the thank you note. (And I’m going to swipe your awesome strategy and send thank you notes along with review copies of my book too!)
She also followed up with me a few weeks later and agreed to do an interview for my blog. Here is the interview, along with Julie’s generous request to help any young novelists seeking advice:
Interview with Julie Kraut, co-author of Hot Mess: Summer in the City:
Q: How did you get your book deal?
Julie: I have to admit that my book deal was a whole lot of luck. I had written the proposal for Hot Mess with Shallon [Lester, the book's co-author] and we knew it was good, but just didn’t know what the next step was. I was fortunate to be working in publishing and, over lunch with a good friend who’s an editor, I mentioned the proposal idea. She was interested and the rest is Hot Mess history.
Q: Describe the writing and editing process for us.
Julie: Writing a book is a weird combination of too long and too short. Seriously, you don’t even know how long 300 pages is and how fast four months go by until you’ve signed a contract saying that you’ll deliver a 300-page draft in four months. But of course it’s incredibly rewarding, and seeing your name on a book cover is beyond exciting. Plus, no one really notices when you do 2.2 spacing and that makes 300 pages go a little faster.
Editing can take some getting used to. Like, I got the note on a recent round of edits that jokes about hand jobs weren’t appropriate. And I was kind of like, um, without any HJ jokes, this book is going to be about three pages. And that’s including the dedication. But, you get used to it and realize that a book is a team effort and everyone’s working toward the same goal of making the most successful book they can. In the end, it’s all about being proud of what your name is on. And I probably shouldn’t be proud of hand job jokes anyway.
Q: What’s your best advice to aspiring novelists?
Julie: This sounds totally lame and like I’m too into The Secret (which maybe I am), but my big advice is to see every aspect of your writing career as steps on your path to getting published, especially rejection. Everyone gets no’s along the way. Just accept the negative responses, learn from them what you can, and then consider yourself one step closer to a yes.
Q: Give us the pitch for your book!
Julie: Hot Mess: Summer in the City is the hilarious and dishy tale of Emma Freeman, who waves buh-bye to her standard summer of stationwagoning around the suburbs and hello to a fabulous internship in the big city. But as the summer heats up, Emma learns that glamour is hard to come by when your only friend is too boy-crazy to hang, your budget is more H&M than D&G, and you spend 8 hours a day working for a man who proves that the devil wears Dockers too. Add one little white lie told to one very hot coworker and a roommate who makes Paris Hilton look junior varsity, and this summer in the city turns into one hot mess.
Q: Any final thoughts?
Julie: I’m super happy to chat with folks in more detail about getting into writing. Please pass on any interested blog readers who want get in touch. (Note from Lindsey: If you’d like to reach out to Julie, leave a comment and I’ll pass along your info.)
[...] Kraut, author of the new novel Slept Away and co-author of Hot Mess: Summer in the City, for which I interviewed her for this blog. Julie is a great young writer and generous in her advice to aspiring scribes. Here [...]
Hi Liane.
Great questions. I do work a job in addition to writing…actually I work at a publishing house (so my answer to your first question may be a little biased.) I’ve been in great hands in terms of marketing and publicity for Hot Mess. They have worked really hard and came up with tons of creative ideas for the book. I consider myself very fortunate. But, you are definitely right that after you land a book deal, your work isn’t over. You are your book’s best advocate, so you should be doing some of the hustle to make your book as successful as possible. Definitely brainstorm and implement creative promotion ideas, reach out to anyone you know and ask for a favor, and also reach out to some folks you don’t know who you think would be interested in your book. That’s how I got in touch with Lindsey!
I don’t maintain a blog. But, I do take the time to sit down and write several days a week to keep up my writing rhythm. And I know that a lot of writers find blogging to be a good motivation to write frequently. So, I think it would be a helpful tool to aspiring writers.
Thanks for these questions and please don’t hesitate if you have any more.
JK
Lindsey as always thanks for the informational and timely post. Julie great advice here, I’ll definitely look into the workshops. Questions:
1. I’ve heard even after landing a book deal, the publisher doesn’t give much help in the publicity department. Has it been difficult for you to advertise? Are you balancing another job aside from writing?
2. Do you maintain a blog to keep up your writing?
@Julie – Thank you for being so generous with your advice!
Lindsey
Hi again!
I don’t belong to an official writing group for my books. However, I do go to workshops for some shorter pieces. Writing groups and workshops can be very helpful. Sometimes you’re just too close to your own writing to see what needs work and more importantly, how great it is. You’ll be so stuck worrying about that one sentence that feels awkward, that you won’t realize how wonderful the piece is as a whole…and it’s so nice to be reminded of that. Also, a writing group can be a good way to practice taking editorial criticism…which believe me, takes some getting used to.
Hope you find this helpful. Holler with anything else.
Julie
One more question (Lindsey, I’ll forward it along to Julie):
Do you belong to a writing group? In what ways is that helpful?
Thanks for taking the time to answer
[...] bookmarks tagged eagerChoose Limo Service Chicago as your limousine service provider! Interview with “eager first time author” Julie… saved by 4 others hiro1021 bookmarked on 07/09/08 | [...]
Sounds like a fun read that would make summer days with the kids at the pool go by a heck of a lot faster :-)
I’m glad Lindsay (oops) Lendsay (oops!) Lindsey shared the interview with us.
Kristine
Thanks for the great interview! It sounds like a fun book for the summer and being new to NYC, it sounds like a book I’d enjoy reading. It’s also inspiring to hear such a great success story. Thanks!
Hi Zak.
What’s to be afraid of? Only your computer or notebook is going to see it. Don’t worry about good or bad writing while you’re doing the writing. Get everything down, take a big step back, and then critique when you’re ready. Believe me, whether you submit your piece to the New York Times or just save it to your desktop, you’re not going to regret writing.
And I haven’t read any books on writing that I’d recommend, but I do recommend reading in general. Reading is an easy and entertaining way to pick up writing techniques and styles without a formal lesson. Plus, I think if you’re reading a lot, you’ll stop worrying about good vs. bad writing. You’ll see that there’s so many varieties of writers out there, that bad isn’t really on the spectrum…everyone’s just different.
Hope this helps you get writing!
JK
I have a few questions for Julie
1) How do you get past the fear of writing badly? I have lots of ideas, but I’d rather not write at all, then write badly. And I don’t know how to get over that fear.
2) Are there any books on writing that Julie recommends?