Things that happen when you don't pay attention

So, y'all remember my last book? 

Oh, wait, no, you probably don't since it ended up in my "where poo goes to die" folder instead of on a bookshelf in Barnes & Noble.  (Okay, I'm being overly dramatic.  I realize that even if it had been published, the chances of it ending up on a shelf at Barnes & Noble are slim since their YA section is about as big as my closet, but you get the idea.)  I'll refresh your memory.  My last book.  Book #3.  The Grim Life of Kat Clark.  About a girl being trained to be an angel of death by her grim reaping dead uncle.  And stuff happens.  That one.  Right.  Ya with me?  Yes?  No?  K. 

So, way back while I was still querying, I tried out this website called WeBook.com.  They have this thing called Page to Fame.  You sign up and upload your first page and then other users on the site rate your stuff, and if they like it, it gets elevated, and if enough people like it, it gets elevated to the next round, which is your first five pages (with the option to upload an additional 5 "bonus" pages).  The goal is to keep getting elevated until it hits the final round, where a real live agent reads it.  The site, though very cool in concept, doesn't seem to be all that popular yet, and in the forums people were saying it can take months or even a year to even get enough ratings to move up.  So I did the initial upload thingy (this was seriously about a year ago) and just sort of forgot about it. 

Then about six months ago I got an email saying my first page of GLoKC had been elevated to the next round.  My initial first page had gotten an 85% overall rating.  Like...woohoo!  So, I uploaded the next five pages with the additional "bonus" pages and...kind of forgot about it again. 

Well, today I checked back and it's been rated 35 times and my rating is still hovering around 80%.  And people are giving positive feedback.  Does this mean anything as far as something happening with that book? No.  But...people like it.  When you try to go the traditional publishing route, you don't really think about that.  You want your crit partners to like it.  You want agents to like it.  But just regular people...that comes later and unfortunately I've not gotten to that "later" yet.  But it's kind of a cool feeling. 

Anyway, if you're interested, my submission on WeBook.com can be found here.*

And on a final note, just to clear things up because some people don't understand my psychobabble (I mean COME ON, doesn't everyone speak "bat shit crazy"?) - When I've talked about "the book I'm not writing" in previous posts, I am referring to the book I AM currently writing.  I birthed this new book in the wake of book #3 going into the pooper and I honestly had no idea really what it was, just that I knew I needed to write it.  Also, it's a bit of crazy pants reverse psychology - like if I pretend I'm not writing it, but I actually am, then...ummm, something magical will happen....??  Like, bunnies will appear.  In go-go boots.  No, wait, that would be weird.  Okay, I didn't know what exactly pretending to not write a book I'm actually writing would accomplish.  Give me a break.  I have issues.  (Obviously.)

*Let me just say that, although at the time I thought it was my best work, in re-reading my sample after several months of not looking at it, and working on this new book, which is totally different, kinda dark and angsty, I no longer think it's my best work and I see a lot of flaws in the writing.  Unfortunately, I can't edit once it's uploaded, but, just so you know, if you read and go "this isn't that great", I'm fully aware.  So shutty.  :)