Q&A & New Website!

Get to know me a little better and see what I have in store for one of my next YA novels! Read more from my Q&A at the UnCommonYA blog.

Also, if you haven't checked out my new website, what are you waiting for? You can order autographed copies of my books now too!

Path to Publication - Vigilante Nights

For years, I’d heard that boy point of view (POV) books were a hard sell. Statistically proven, females are the majority readers and they read a lot of books from the female point of view. I’m not saying that females don’t read books written in a male POV or that they don’t sell. Look at John Green, Chris Crutcher, or Merit’s own Steven Parlato, among many other authors who write young adult novels in a male POV. They exist and they appeal to both male and female readers. I kept hearing that editors wanted “boy” books, yet there were so few slots for them on a publisher’s list. None of this stopped me from writing Vigilante Nights, because it needed to be written! I just figured I’d have a harder time landing a publisher.

I queried a lot of agents, and came close to an offer of representation a couple of times, but they already had a client with a boy book they were trying to sell. Just as I was ready to start querying publishers on my own, I read about F+W Media’s new imprint Merit Press and how they wanted to publish contemporary novels and no paranormal creatures or SF&F. My editor at another F+W Media imprint was able to get me an early copy of the submission guidelines. As soon as I read them, my stomach did somersaults, literally. I thought Vigilante Nights was perfect for Merit Press, and Merit seemed okay with books that had a light supernatural element. Even though it appeared Merit primarily wanted books written from a girl’s POV, they were open to books from a boy’s POV, too! My second thought was….I’m going to submit ASAP before there were no more slots for a “boy” book. Paranoid much? Yes!

Merit’s editor, Jackie Mitchard, fell in love with Vigilante Nights, and I had an offer in hand within three months.

I can’t help but think timing had a little to do with selling Vigilante Nights. :) But what really sold it was finding an editor and publishing house that loved it as much as I did. This is what Jackie had to say when she offered to publish Vigilante Nights: “Everyone is excited about VIGILANTE NIGHTS, and about the comparisons it offers with classics such as ‘The Outsiders.’ We love this book. It's just exactly the book that Merit Press was founded to publish -- with a great deal of heart, pure, strong characters, and even a hint of magical realism.”

People in the publishing business say it only takes one editor to love your book. I’m happy it was Jackie and Merit Press, and they took a chance on me and Vigilante Nights.

Read more about Merit Press books and authors at:

Merit Press Facebook

Merit Press Website

UncommonYA Website & Blog (unofficial author site)

Early Shipping & More!

VIGILANTE NIGHTS is here! I received my boxes of author copies (in hardcover!) a few days ago. I also found out that Amazon is shipping early copies for people who pre-order before its official release date of July 18! Woohoo! I will confess...I can't stop fondling & petting my book! LOL Come on. It's my first hardcover. A dream come true. You'd do the same, right? Buy links for Vigilante Nights.

The Kindle version is available on Tuesday, June 18. Click to order.

If you would like an autographed bookplate for your copy, please email me. Or if you want an autograph for your eBook edition, all my books are available on Authorgraph.

Early Reviews for Vigilante Nights

 

I received a wonderful review of VIGILANTE NIGHTS last week from a winner of my Goodreads giveaway.

"Vigilante Nights is brilliant for a Young Adult book. It faces the pressure and craziness of teenagers in horrible areas. It's a mystery book with twist and turns at every path, fake or real. Vigilante Nights had me guessing who was the real person who caused the death of Lucas's sister, Silver. For all those romance book lovers out there, Vigilante Nights is a romance, too. And it is a story of revenge."

Read the full review: KittiKat Says Blog.

"This story is also about his metaphorical swim back to the surface after being seized by the undertow. It's his gasp for air, his decision to fight for his life and for what he's lost, and ultimately, move on. He doesn't forget but he finds, with the support of his friends and family, that perhaps he can heal. Bravo, Ms. Richards. Bravo." Full Review.

"Vigilante Nights is a book you won't want to put down." Full Review.

"The story's good; it's well-written, with nicely developed characters. The plot moves along at a swift pace and never lets up. Overall, an interesting and entertaining read." Full Review.

"I was pleasantly surprised to find that I couldn't put it down. This turned out to be, essentially, a nicely paced thriller with some lightweight supernatural elements." Full Review.

Next Steps for Vigilante Nights

In case you miss the little "present" I got in the mail last weekend, here's another picture!

I received 10 ARCs (advanced readers copies) of Vigilante Nights in trade paperback format. It's super exciting to see VN in print and hold it in my hands, even if it's not the final printed version! For those who don't know, "advance readers copy" commonly known as an ARC is exactly what they say they are. The are bound copies printed (before the final release copy and official release date) to send out to advance readers. Advance readers are booksellers, reviewers, librarians, bloggers, etc. F+W Media/Merit Press will send them out, but I can do what I want with these copies, hopefully garner some early reviews from them. And give a few away! (Keep reading for giveaway information.)

These copies are also uncorrected, that is, they don't include the corrections I made in my final galley review in February, because they went to print before last changes could be made. This is totally normal. Even the back cover blurb (book description) is the older catalog version and will also be changed on the final version. The new back cover blurb version is on my website and on all the sale sites, like Amazon, etc. Also, I updated my author photo and this copy has the old photo. I even had to ask my editor if that will change since they wanted me to update my photo (which I heartily agreed with once I redid the photo!). LOL! The photo issue is a story for another day. It was my mistake and not my publisher's!

Eventually, I will get a PDF copy of the final version. Right now, it's going through a couple more reads at Merit Press before it goes to final print in hardcover format (and eBook).

Without further ado, here's my giveaway information:

First Readers Giveaway of Vigilante Nights at Goodreads! Starts April 1 and will be open worldwide. I'm giving away 3 ARCs. Plus, each winner will receive a swag pack, which includes a VN key chain. Goodreads Link

Also, if you pre-order Vigilante Nights, I will be giving away an exclusive swag pack (this is a gift, not a giveaway). Details will be coming within a couple weeks.

Having said that, I just found out that Vigilante Nights is up for pre-order at Walmart! If you prefer to buy from Walmart vs. Amazon or the usual retailer suspects, you're in luck!  Walmart Pre-Order Link

The Stages of a Book After Acceptance #1

YAY! I just finished proofreading the galley of VIGILANTE NIGHTS! Therefore, I thought I'd share the stages a book goes through after acceptance by a publisher. In my case, my publisher is Merit Press, a division of F+W Media.

At this point, all my edits are done, after going through two previous rounds of edits. First, a developmental edit, i.e. making changes to the story based on suggestions from my editor. I did those last November. My editor Jackie made some great suggestions, one of which returned an element to the story I had removed before I submitted it to her. Had she read my mind? I was super excited about that. I won't spill the beans, though. ;) After the book is released, I may blog about that issue. Anyway, I loved all of Jackie's insightful suggestions and happily made them!

During my copy-edit period (on November 16), I received the preliminary cover from Jackie. I honestly didn't know what to expect. I had provided absolutely no feedback or suggestions for cover art like I had with my two romance novels. So I was a little nervous waiting for it. My fingers were practically shaking when I opened the email. I had no reason to be nervous. It was love at first sight. I love black and red. The paint brush font is so freaking cool along with the splatter of white paint. The silhouette of the "gang" is so mysterious and suspenseful. The cover is perfect.

Merit Press then assigned a copy editor to VN to go over my developmental edits. In mid-December, I received the copy-edited manuscript back. Fortunately, Jackie had no issues with the changes I made during developmental edits. I had 10 days to go through the book again. During my copy edits I reviewed Merit's changes (and had the opportunity to raise any concerns, if any) and make any final changes I needed. These edits weren't bad (as my editor said, my MS was pretty clean to begin with). Even as clean as it was, there were still things I missed that the copyeditor picked up, like using "crude" when I meant to use "crud." Ugh. I know the difference. But when you go through your book a gazillion times, your eyes glaze over and you miss these things because your mind knows what it means even if your eyes aren't seeing it. Another dumb mistake: I used "white-beater" instead of "wife-beater" as in the T-shirt. Duh. Again, I know the difference, but my fingers on the keyboard didn't care and my eyes glazed right over it (in two places, no less). Those were the two dumbest errors I made.

During copy-edit stage, I also drafted my book dedication and my acknowledgements.

Then the manuscript was sent to the production department to lay out in galley form. The "galley" by definition is the final format of the book before it goes to "press," whether as a print book or eBook. In my case, VIGILANTE NIGHTS was laid out for hardcover print. I received the PDF galley format from my editor last Monday. Very exciting to see it laid out! My job was to proofread it. Merit Press would also proofread it.

The next time I see VIGILANTE NIGHTS, it will be as an ARC (Advanced Review Copy or Advanced Reading Copy) in paperback format. ARCs are pre-published editions and are privately released by the publisher to reviewers, bookstores, magazines, and/or libraries.

Also, during the time period stated above, I have been reaching out to published authors for potential cover quotes, and I had a book jacket photo taken.

Finally, between all the VIGILANTE NIGHTS publication work I've been doing, I've been working on editing my next book before I submit it to my agent. Because of all this fun busy work, I'm a little behind, but hope to have the book polished to submit next month!

There you have it! Every publisher is different in their processes, but all follow a similar path.