Megan Crewe on writing & publishing GIVE UP THE GHOST

I met Megan Crewe at the first gathering of the Toronto MG/YA Writers’ Group. Her first book, GIVE UP THE GHOST, debuted from Henry Holt Books for Young Readers in September.

Read on to find out more about how Megan sold GIVE UP THE GHOST, how she found her agent, writing habits and her advice for hopeful writers:

How did you sell GIVE UP THE GHOST?

I think my path to publication was very “normal.” I found an agent through simple cold querying, and she started submitting the book to editors. We had a few close calls, I did revisions for a couple of different editors, and in the end we got two offers! Which might sound easy enough, but naturally there was a lot of work involved: writing, revising, and polishing the manuscript; researching agents and writing a query letter (which some might say this is harder than writing the book itself); and then working with editors pre-sale to prove I had the skills to align my vision with theirs. All that effort was totally worth it, of course. I still get giddy every time I see my book on the shelves!

How long did it take you to find an agent?

I started sending out queries for GHOST around the beginning of May 2006 and got the offer around the end of October–so about six months in total.

How did you choose which agents to approach?

I started out by listing authors I liked who wrote books in the same genre, and trying to figure out who their agents were. Then I used AgentQuery.com to look up other agents who repped young adult fiction. For each agent I considered I also checked out their website and/or looked them up on Publishers Marketplace to make sure they’d had recent YA sales before I queried.

What happened when you got two offers?

My agent and I discussed what was being offered and decided on the publisher we thought would be the best fit for the book. Then I waited while the details negotiated. That was hard–wanted to share with everyone that my book had sold but having to keep quiet until it was all settled.

Cassie’s an interesting character: sarcastic yet also vulnerable in some ways. Was she like this when you started writing GIVE UP THE GHOST? Or did she evolve as you wrote?

Cass’s voice and personality were pretty clear from the start. I knew I was writing about someone who’d lost her trust in the living and consequently had built up a lot of defenses (like sarcasm) to keep herself from being hurt again. What I did have to work on was toning down the defenses and letting more of the vulnerability I knew was there show through, to keep her sympathetic to readers.

How much outlining and background prep did you do before you started to write the book?

I am an avid outliner, so I did lots of note-jotting and brainstorming beforehand, then wrote out a full, scene-by-scene outline. I also did some research on girl bullying (mostly from ODD GIRL OUT by Rachel Simmons). Then I dove in!

What are your writing habits? e.g. favourite writing place? writing music or no? favourite writing times? etc.

I have a special, comfy writing chair where I sit with my laptop and work on whatever my current project is. Just sitting there helps get me in the creative frame of mind. And I prefer to write in the late morning/early afternoon. I find it takes me a little while to get going in the morning, but by the evening I’m not quite as alert any more, so I’m sharpest during that middle time. If I have music on I just end up tuning it out, so I write in relative silence.

How has the launch gone so far?

It’s been very exciting! I still get a thrill when I walk into a store and see my book there. My Canadian publicist has helped set up a few events for me which have gone well, and I’ve been active online, hosting chats and holding giveaways and of course doing interviews. I’m looking forward to doing a couple of group events with fellow 2009 Debs this winter, too.

How did you get involved with the 2009 Debutantes and the Class of 2K9?

I was familiar with the Class of 2K7 (the first of the 2K groups) because a few authors I knew online were a part of it, and I was impressed by the way they banded together and supported each other’s books. So I knew early on that I’d want to join the group for my year when I got a book deal. As soon as membership applications were available for 2K9, I filled one out and sent it in.

At the time when my book sold, I’d also started hearing about a different sort of group of MG and YA authors that was forming, which a couple of long-time online friends were joining, so I became a member of that LiveJournal community as soon as I could. That group became the 2009 Debutantes.

It’s been interesting being a part of both groups. 2K9 is definitely more business oriented and the Debs more social, but there’s some overlap and both have provided an amazing amount of support throughout the year.

How do you balance the time between writing and promoting/marketing?

When I have a project I’m working on, it gets first priority. I write for a few hours every morning, before I even turn on my desktop computer that has the internet access. Only after I’ve done that am I “allowed” to check e-mails, post blog entries, etc. I find I still end up having a lot of time for the marketing side of things, too, but that way my writing time doesn’t get eaten up by it.

How many times were you rejected? Any rejection stories you’d like to share? Any rejection advice for writers?

Between short story rejections, agent rejections, and novel rejections, I’m sure I’ve gotten well over a hundred. I’ve been at this since I was in my teens, after all! I think the most important thing to remember is that no rejection means that you are a bad writer. It can mean you have more work to do before you’re at a publishable level. It can mean your story wasn’t quite the right fit for that agent or editor. It can mean the market for that sort of story is too crowded right now. And the answer to any one of those things is, keep writing, keep trying to write better, and keep sending stuff out there!

What advice do you have for hopeful YA writers?

Make sure you’re writing YA because you truly enjoy writing for and about teens, not because you think it’ll be easier than writing for adults. Because 1) it’s not, and 2) if your heart’s not in it, you won’t be writing your best work. Beyond that, think about the sorts of things you went through as a teen, the things that were important to you, and draw on those as well as what interests you now. Pay attention to today’s teens. What are they reading, and why? What do they have to say about books they like and don’t like? And don’t be afraid to read outside the genre. You can get all sorts of ideas that way.

You can find out more about Megan Crewe at http://www.megancrewe.com or follow her on Twitter at @megancrewe.