Real World

Well, it's been about two weeks since I've been back from New York and I must say it is wonderful to be so close to nature. Keep in mind that I am not really a outdoorsy person but at home nature is very close at hand and I apparently like to keep my options open. The only nature you get in New York is the trees among the cement sidewalks and the rats in the subways (I totally saw a rat in the subway and I was all like 'I've never seen a rat in the wild...of a New York subway station before.' Gross)
So I apparently haven't caught you up on the last week of New York. So my book group won out of 10 imprints for being the best imprint! Suck it literary nonfiction imprints! Romance Imprints rule!! Anyways, it was kind of amazing because I was the one who came up with the idea for our lead book title and I also wrote the first chapter to it because I was bored one day during speakers (Mom now says I should finish it. Writing a chapter is one thing! Writing a whole book with like a plot and characters and arcs and themes is a whole different ball game!) I also went to Promises, Promises which stars Sean Hayes who played Jack on Will and Grace and Kristin Chenoweth who is AMAZING!!! She was in Wicked and Pushing Daisies and The West Wing and I love her! Sean Hayes was so cute and so funny and the dancing was amazing! So glad I got to see it! The last night we had a party on the roof of one of the girl's in my magazine and book group who lived in Greenwich Village and it was super fun and very New York and a good way to spend the our last night in New York.
I am now sending queries to literary agents in an attempt to get my book represented. A query is a one page letter that is supposed to hook an agent into wanting to read more of the book and possibly taking it on to sell to publishers. It is very hard to boil your book down to two paragraphs but that's what you have to do. Then you basically get rejected until you finally don't. Or you can get rejected by everyone and have to write a different book and shop that book around and hope someone likes that one. Being a writer basically sucks. But if I can't help but make up stories, well.....I guess I should keep doing it then.
So I'm home and unemployed or as I like to think of it "assessing my options" or even better "taking a vacation" while searching for a job. I'm not even sure what I should do but I'm going to give myself a year and if I haven't figured anything out by then I'll go back to school or become a stripper or something. (I totally wouldn't be a stripper! First off, I'm not flexible and second, you know....morals and stuff).
My friend from college who I happened to live with freshman and sophomore year got married this weekend and I was one of her bridesmaids! (there was, like, a hundred million other bridesmaids.) Anyways, it was really fun to be there and be a part of the wedding even if I didn't get to actually spend much time with my friend cuz she was so busy with everyone else. I did bond with her ten year old sister and two of her friends from high school so that was pretty cool.
I'm also possibly starting up a blog in which I don't blather on about my life but I write things about...I don't know, what I think about the publishing industry and YA books and life in general. I haven't really figured out what I'm going to write about but it will be another way for me to develop a presence on the internet because as a writer you have to have a platform now where you can promote yourself and your work and since everyone who reads this blog is basically related to me I assume that you will all buy my books already (AND READ THEM TOO! Even if you don't like it. Just lie and tell me I'm amazing. Trust me, it will not give me a big head. Shannon can attest to my horrible lack of confidence sometimes).
So now...PICTURES!!!

Before Wedding! I'll get better pictures soon. You know like when we're actually in our dresses and not in robes.

Rooftop in Greenwich!

Ends almost here

Well, I've fallen behind on my blogging! Sorry! But really, I don't do anything exciting, at least not during the week. Unless you count sitting in a windowless room learning about book publishing all day as exciting, which I'm sure some people would totally count. I am just not particularly one of those people. Also, I've spent so much time in a room full of literary snobs (not all but most of them are English majors and it may be hard to believe but I am not the worst grammar nazi in the world.) I think I am rejecting the basics of grammar as a rebellion of being in that room. Take a look at the beginning of this paragraph. Some of them would call it quits just trying to copyedit this blog. Oh well, what am I going to do?
Another thing I've noticed is that people in book publishing refer to the midwest as middle america as if it is some strange and mysterious place. Uh, yeah, Minneapolis and St. Paul are two of the most literary cities in the country. Thanks, Midwest!
I don't believe I've written about my book group. Hmmmm, Okay. So for the book publishing part we form a book imprint (like Hachette publishes the Twilight books but is really a part of Little Brown) and then we have to launch five fake titles. I somehow managed to talk my group into forming a romance imprint called Bodice Books even though half of them think romance books are trashy (which they are not! At least most of them aren't!) The other half I had to take to Barnes and Noble to buy a romance novel because they hadn't read a romance novel before....for real. One of the girls was horrified to learn (through reading her new romance novel) that there is sex in romance novels! Oh good God. You see what I must put up with? (Becky understands what I'm talking about!) Anyways, we're finally getting to the point where we are accepting that we are a romance imprint and moving on. Thank Jesus.
Alright, recap of fourth of July weekend! My roommates and I went to karaoke with some other people from my magazine group (everyone hates their book groups which are different than their mag groups.) and I sang Just Dance by Lady Gaga with a friend. Saturday, my roommate and I went to Memphis which won the Tony for best musical this year. It was awesome and sad and I'm glad I went to it to see the original cast! Sunday was the least patriotic July 4th I've ever experienced. We went to a street fair down by the seaport in the financial district which was odd to see sail boats next to skyscrapers but it was fun. We made sure to watch the fireworks because it was our Italian roommate's first time in the US during the fourth. I was like, "Oh, well if I was home we'd be having a boat parade and delicious food and we'd light fireworks off ourselves because it's somehow more impressive if we managed to buy a pretty and big firework. We had Monday off and I went to see the Last Airbender. DON"T WASTE YOUR MONEY!! I personally love the TV show which I realize marks me as a nerd (as if y'all hadn't realized that yet) but the adaption was HORRIBLE!! I was like, thanks M. Night Shamaylan (Sp???? Oh, who cares really?) for ruining a really good show! You had so much to work with and you managed to turn it into crap. Awesome!!



Yesterday my roommates and I went to play trivia at this bar (extrememly hard trivia. the only round we did well on was the revolutionary era round and that's pretty amazing because I don't like American history). At this bar, you buy a beer and get a personal pizza free and since I'm cheap and also hadn't tried pizza since third grade when Dave made me eat a piece (yeah, haven't forgotten about that Dave!) I figured I should try it again. I mean, I'd discovered I liked guacamole and sour cream all in the span of last year maybe pizza had developed into my tastes.



Nope. Still gross. I was really really hungry though so I ate half of my pizza. You should all be impressed. I had pizza in New York and I hated it! My raspberry beer was good though!

Today we went to the offices of Hyperion publishing (although I wanted to visit Disney Hyperion which is there YA imprint and be like, I love youuuuuu. You should publish my boooookkk! Kthxbai!) Then my roommates and I went to 16 Handles which is a frozen yogurt place that has 16 flavors and you can put as many flavors as you want in your container and you can put however many toppings you want on it and they price it by the weight and it was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. We need one of these!! Anyways, this weekend is our last weekend so we're going to try and go to another show and go out dancing and maybe hit up Rockerfeller center or something tourist-y. I'll update y'all soon!

Goodbye Magazines

Well, the magazine section of SPI is over and boy am I glad. Although there was a lot of interesting things about magazines I don't think I will pursue a career in magazines. There's just something about books... Anyways, we presented our finished fake magazines on Friday (my group didn't win but we didn't think we were going to). There was a magazine called Seersucker which focused on the preppy lifestyle which is apparently a thing. It really is just an east coast thing where people go to polo matches and hang out on their yachts. So basically it should just be called douche magazine and everyone would understand. They didn't win either thank goodness.
On Saturday I went to Phantom of the Opera and it was amazing! It also sparked the broadway bug in me and now I want to go to a million and one shows! I also ate at this place called Ellen's Stardust Diner (or something to that effect) and all of the waiters sang songs because they're all trying to be on broadway someday.
Sunday, my roommates and I went shopping! And ran into the gay pride parade on 5th Avenue which was pretty much amazing! I took pictures!
Tomorrow starts the book part of the program and I am excited because a different woman runs this section and I also love books. It seems like this section will be more relaxing than the magazine section which is good because I would like to do things other than sleep on my weeknights! So we'll see if I like book publishing enough to stay in New York or...if my current feelings continue...if I decide that the only part of book publishing I want to be a part of is the part where people are publishing my books!
Pile of Free Magazines we were given throughout last three weeks!

Spot the Naked Cowgirl in Time Square!
Float from the Gay Pride Parade!

Constant State of Tiredness

So I guess everyone wants to know what I'm doing exactly...Well, I'm sitting in a room that is set at the temperature of freezing-my-ass-off, listening to people from the magazine world speak for about nine hours a day. I am always hungry. I am always cold. I am always uncomfortable because I am a person who sits on her feet and the chairs in our lovely igloo room do not allow that.
I have learned all sorts of things like CPM's that's cost per thousands, and unique viewers, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). I have learned about the business models of the Huffington Post, Consumer Market, Mother Jones, Spin, Rolling Stones, LIFE (It is now a website with really cool pictures on it so you should go check it out) and so many other magazines/content websites that I don't even know what to do with myself.
At the end of these three weeks we are launching a fake magazine brand that must be unique in its idea and expand into print, web, and social media. My group is made up of about ten girls and we are launching a magazine that supports eco-friendly fashion and beauty but will also have a section on green lifestyle. My job in this group is Web Marketing and Business Manager. I really don't have to do anything on the business side thank God because it turns out that numbers and I don't mix (as if Dad wasn't aware of that all those nights in high school when he tried to teach me math and I ended up crying). My job (as well as another girl) is to develop a facebook page and twitter account for our fake magazine and help the web editors come up with blogs for our magazine website. So I'm actually feeling pretty good about that. I knew all those hours on facebook when I should have been doing homework or writing would come in handy sometime! And thank God I joined twitter this year because it's apparently really big. Also something called foursquare is really big too. It has something to do with your city and you become mayor of your city by doing things on foursquare blah blah blah. Everyone hear gushes about it but I really think it's a big city thing. Who has time to become a fake mayor of something on the internet? No one. Or at least not me.
Hmmmm, what else have I done in a week and a half. I visited the offices of Everyday with Rachel Ray and got to eat some pieces of a porkchop made in their test kitchens where they test recipes to put in their magazine. I have fallen in love with too many magazines to count. I have discovered that I could never ever EVER be a vegetarian like one of my roommates (She said she's like a sixth generation vegetarian so it's the way she grew up. But she's also from California so that's not really a surprise.) I have applied for a paid internship which I most likely won't get but hey, it's worth a try and networked with some SPI (summer publishing institute) alums and got a card! I have visited the Empire State Building and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and also lazed in my apartment for an entire day because that's what eleven hour days do to you. (Insert Shannon telling me not to whine about my hours).
And now for something completely different...PICTURES!!!


Me and My roommates at my birthday dinner at the Hard Rock!

Sex and the City cosmo!!

This is the Woolworth building where we go to class and freeze all day long!

This last one's for Shannon!

Empire State of Mind

Hellooooo Everyone,
I'm writing from New York City. I've only been here three days and boy does it seem longer!! I've spent the last three days at the Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) classroom listening to speakers about magazines. The magazine business is kind of in a precarious situation right now so a lot of what we are learning is how to merge online with print and how to incorporate digital readers like the iPad and the kindle and whether we should charge for content and so on and so forth.
We actually get to listen to a lot of high up people in the magazine business. The Executive Editor from the Food Network Magazine talked to us today and we were taught how to network by the Mingling Mavin. She actually didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. I'm apparently very good at talking to strangers.
Hmmmm what else? My roommates are pretty cool. Their names all end in -ina so I'm the odd man out in our apartment. Eating here is kind of hard because none of us have any kitchen supplies. Right now I'm eating and using a paper towel as my plate. Classy! I got yelled at by a subway cop my first day for nothing but I was all "whatever dude!" and went on my way. Living in New York has actually made me revert to my study abroad mode because NYC is such a different culture. I am in the "Don't look anyone in the eye and keep to yourself" mode which is pretty useful.
Well, that's it for now, I guess. I'll have more later and I managed to take a few pictures of the Woolworth building so I'll post those soon.

New York New York

Hey everyone I'm just writing quick to say that I'll be trying to write at least once a week about my time in NYC on this blog so stay tuned for more news! I leave tomorrow very very early!

Also I finished my book....sort of. I still have some stuff to revise and tweak and add in but I have the bulk of it down. Right now it is exactly 50,000 words which is the minimum word count for a standard novel. It's also the longest thing I've written! Oofta! Anyways, I'm working on it a little bit more before I send it off into the unknown publishing world.

So I will report back soon with news of NYC!!

Last Day of Normal Classes!

Hellooooo everyone. So, uh, a lot has happened in the last month. So much that I was kind of like...Whoa! Spread out good news! I can't take you all at once! So anyways, I'm sure most of you have heard that I got accepted into the NYU publishing program that I applied to. Columbia rejected me right away (I didn't want to go there anyway!) and I was put on the waiting list of the University of Denver program and I didn't really think I had a chance of getting into NYU and then I recieved my glorious acceptance email (yeah, email!) And then I proceeded to freak out.

I am very excited to spend six weeks in NYC but also scared because..hello, it's New York! And also I've watched a lot of Law and Order:SVU episodes, so that can't help the paranoia. Anyways, I'm going to live on NYU campus (hopefully) and our classes are in the Woolworth Building. Do you know what the Woolworth Building looks like? Because if you don't you should google it. Yeah, skyscraper. Me and publishing in a skyscraper. I head off to NY in the beginning of June and return July 16th or so (maybe with a job but if not, a lot of experience that could help me get a job in the Cities publishing houses.)

The next good news I received was in the form of my English Capstone and Nonfiction writing Professor. My capstone is made up of an academic paper as well as a creative writing portion. For my creative writing portion, my professor told me I could work on my book (the book I've been writing and rewriting for the past 4 years). I met with my professor before we discussed it in our class (everyone has to read everyone's stories) and to my surprise, he said that he was impressed and thought it was a good story, with good characters with obvious needs for revision. (I was expecting the "Don't quit your day job" advice which I would have disregarded but actual liking was the best thing I could have gotten. And yeah, I know I need to revise and revise and revise. Little known fact: Authors can revise forever. Basically their agents have to rip the manuscript out of their hands for it to be 'finished')
My professor was impressed with it so much that he began asking around for anyone in the industry to read my book (The professor is a published nonfiction writer with a whole stack of books of essays so he knows people.) He found me a contact...a very impressive person to send my writings to. Like Salman Rushdie big! Like HOLY CRAP THIS GUY IS GOING TO READ MY NOVEL?? (not Salman Rushdie. I'm keeping the name under wraps in case someone googles me and reads this blog!) Anyway, I'm sending my novel to someone very high up in publishing at the end of this week.

This does not mean that I am going to be published. The worst he could read it and not do or say anything with it. He could give me some feedback and still not pass on it. He could like it enough to send it to a literary agent who could not pass on it and send me some feedback. Or this literary agent could take me on and we could work on my book and upon selling my book to publishers. Now the last case scenario is very very VERY unlikely and I am totally aware of that. It's a pipe dream. I follow enough authors to know that rejection is part of the business. I am prepared for years--YEARS!-- of rejection before I get published. So even getting feedback from people in the business would be incredibly helpful and amazing This is a very BIG opportunity for me...so yeah FREAKING OUTTAGE!!!

In other news, today is my last day of class. I spent it finishing my 40 page manuscript of essays for my nonfiction class. Two of the essays are rambles about how I can't smell and also why being from here means you don't freak out every time it floods. There's also an essay on swinging (as in a swingset)and I use it as a metaphor for graduating and the future. I'm not at all certain that this metaphor works but I don't care anymore. I'm graduating and NYU can't reject me based on grades anymore and I will now be foraying into the land that isn't based on a grades system. Thank you, baby Jesus. I don't have any finals just one myth test (oh by the way, I'm consistently beating my friend in that class mwhahahaha) which is only on the past week of material so it should be easy! That being said, this week will be devoted to making sure my book sucks as less as possible before sending it off into the unknown. SQUEEEEE!