Blog Tour Guest Post: All The Feels - Danika Stone

Title: All the Feels
Author: Danika Stone
Pub Date: June 7th, 2016
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Page Count: 336

College freshman Liv is more than just a fangirl: The Starveil movies are her life… So, when her favorite character, Captain Matt Spartan, is killed off at the end of the last movie, Liv Just. Can’t. Deal.

Tired of sitting in her room sobbing, Liv decides to launch an online campaign to bring her beloved hero back to life. With the help of her best friend, Xander, actor and steampunk cosplayer extraordinaire, she creates #SpartanSurvived, a campaign to ignite the fandom. But as her online life succeeds beyond her wildest dreams, Liv is forced to balance that with the pressures of school, her mother’s disapproval, and her (mostly nonexistent and entirely traumatic) romantic life. A trip to DragonCon with Xander might be exactly what she needs to figure out what she really wants.

The Five Things No One Tells You About Writing

By Danika Stone

This month has been a whirlwind. On top of my real life demands which include being the mom to three boys, a full time New Media instructor, a wife, and unpaid chauffeur for any number of school events… I’m also a writer. The last six weeks have been a landslide of book launches, phone meetings, readings, interviews (online, radio, and newspaper) and—like this one—blog tours. There are not enough hours in the day. (I know. I counted them). But I am making it work. I have to, you see, I’m a writer… and if you want to write, you have to go into it knowing that.

Here are the top five things no one tells you about writing:

1.     Everyone will call it an overnight success, even if it took you twenty years to get there. The sad truth is, our society loves the idea that you can skip the dull apprenticeship part and launch to the top. I’m here to say that’s just not true. It might look like it happened overnight. But I guarantee that whatever writer you see in the “Up and Coming” section of your local Chapters has spent years working her butt off to get there.

Easy as Childbirth Gif: http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac317/danikastoneonline/Danika%20Promo/giphy_zpsbw0kmn8z.gif

2.    You WILL be disappointed. You know that first book idea you loved more than anything? Yes, the manuscript you spent five years slaving over? Someone else might publish a similar book a month before you query, destroying its chance at success. It’s also possible that no one (except you) will want to read it. Or, that you’ll find an agent, but they won’t be able to sell it because it’s not right for the current market. (It happened to me.) Accept that failing—and learning from those failures—is part of the process. Cope and move on.

3.    Luck is a bigger part of publishing than you realize. For all the books that make it, there are a hundred similar ones that aren’t picked up. Being able to snap up those chances when they arrive can be the difference between a successful novel deal and another round of querying. Keep your eyes open for opportunities. They’re there.

4.    Risk-taking pays off. Enter every writing contest you find. I did, and All the Feels was selected after being in the Swoon Reads contest! Send off your query letter to agents you don’t think will say yes! My agent, Morty Mint, is the retired Vice President of Collins Canada, the CEO and President of Penguin US, and the President of Penguin Canada. He was WAY out of my league, but he still signed me. Choose the ‘safe’ path and you might never arrive.

5.     Kindness is a bigger deal than you think. With all the frustrating parts of the publishing business, one element that’s always kept me going is how wonderful other people can be. But you’ll only see that when you are also sharing positivity. So get yourself out there. Connect with other writers and readers. Support them. Be kind. They might be that extra bit of luck that’ll help your own ‘overnight success’ happen! 

 

Amazing news, guys! 

Raincoast is doing a wonderful giveaway for an ALL THE FEELS prize pack below. Enter now!

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