Here are a few quotes from Jon Gibbs that I thought were good little snippets everyone could use.
Thank you again, Jon, for your words of wisdom, and for going out of your way to help aspiring authors to Learn from your Mistakes
1. Dealing with shyness – He is shy. He is afraid of public appearances. To get through it, he imagines his grandmother saying “Okay go home – you will disgrace all your ancestors but that’s fine.” It helps him to trudge on.
2. Figure out what works best for you and then do that a lot
3. Write what you like, even if it seems out of date. If you enjoy it, someone else will, too.
4. Winning a contest (small) and putting it in your query letter makes you look like a newbie. Major awards are okay, though.
5. Writer’s digest may seem good, but you have to pay to submit. Don’t pay to submit.
6. Slush readers trash “Dark and stormy night” openers and don’t read to the next line.
7. Jon learns more about writing listening to others critique his writing.
8. Young Adult needs a romantic element to be marketable*
*This is what a publisher told Jon when he was selling Fur Face as YA. However, a friend of mine was just asked by a publisher to remove the romantic element because it made them uncomfortable. You never know.
Jon Gibbs is the author of one of my son’s favorite books: FUR-FACE, which was nominated for a Crystal Kite Award.
Jon is an Englishman transplanted to New Jersey, USA, where he is an ‘author in residence’ at Lakehurst Elementary School. Jon is the founding member of The New Jersey Author’s Network and FindAWritingGroup.com.
Jon blogs at jongibbs.livejournal.com
Website: www.acatofninetales.com
Jennifer M Eaton 