Allison Winn Scotch's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

We love Allison Winn Scotch. Plain and simple. She's definitely our girl. Loves mindless TV. Admits to wearing not just acid washed jeans but high-waisted acid washed jeans. And she writes damn good novels. Her third, The One That I Want, was just released in paperback and it's the perfect summer read. If you haven't yet devoured it (or even if you have) we suggest you immediately treat yourself to a copy (avail everywhere from Amazon to Target to Costco), sit back (preferably poolside with a cocktail in hand) and enjoy. Because you will. The One That I Want is the story of Tilly Farmer, a girl who’s seemingly perfect life begins to fall apart after an old childhood friend gives her the gift to see into the future. Doesn't it sound juicy? Well if you leave a comment, you'll be entered to win one of five copies! We'll randomly select the winner on Friday, July 1 after 6pm EST.

And now just another reason we love Allison. Her Do's and Do-over list...

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...ALLISON WINN SCOTCH'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER.

DO'S

1) DO let yourself feel nostalgic. One of the questions I’m most often asked, when discussing my books, is if I relate to my characters, who often get tangled up in their past memories. And my answer is always the same: of course. I love tugging out old photos, laughing at people’s ridiculous ‘80s (and ‘90s) hair on Facebook, hearing a song on the radio and remembering an old love. I think there’s a lot of value in honoring your past and preserving the good memories that came out of it. But that’s about where it ends. Allowing yourself to feel those twinges, and then taking them and finding a way to make your current life more fulfilled. Stalking your exes on Facebook isn’t going to get you anywhere other than on the road to unhappiness.

2) DO find someone who accepts you for you. I wrote an essay recently about an old boyfriend, for whom I tried to change everything about myself. And what struck me most about it was how grateful I am to have found someone for whom I haven’t had to change one iota. I sing as loudly as I want in the car (it indeed annoys him, but he lets me do it), I look like all hell broke loose in the morning and he doesn’t care. More importantly, he’s never made me doubt who I am, what my instincts are, or what I’d like to do with my life. It’s not that our marriage is perfect, but certainly, when it comes to criteria that should top the list of a healthy relationship, I’ve learned that acceptance has to be number one (or at least top three).

3) DO embrace your light side. In other words, if you watch the Bachelorette and other insipid reality shows, raise your hand and be proud! Damn proud! Okay, maybe not that proud. Maybe let’s just whisper it to each other. But still *quiet voice*: I love mindless TV, and I’m not afraid to tweet about it. Here’s the thing: I work really hard, I take care of my family, I read A LOT. And if at the end of the day, I want some escapism, I say, bring it on! And if, even after that, I want to read every single thread on Television Without Pity, analyzing all the ridiculous antics and sure-to-disappoint spoilers, well, bring that on to. Why? Because I’m worth it.

4) DO let yourself screw-up. I bet I’m not the first person to say this here, and I certainly hope I’m not the last. One of the most valuable lessons in my career has come from failure – the first book I wrote (which in hindsight was just totally and completely wretched) never sold, and it forced me to either step up and suck it up and do the work to write a better one, or quit. You know which one I chose. And ditto this for all of my relationships: all of my break-ups lead to where I am now, and sure, those break-ups were fraught with emotion and anxiety and certainly pain, but each was a valuable lesson for who I was becoming and who, eventually, I’d become.

5) DO go with the flow. For those of you who know me as an author, this one might surprise you because I am very, very anal about my job, but when it comes to everything else, I’m actually pretty laid-back. I’ve found that stressing out over things that I can’t control just leaves me...more stressed, and that not being flexible or able to accommodate life’s changes also just leaves me...more stressed. What’s the purpose? There isn’t any. I try to let the little stuff slide. There is, after all, a reason that they call it “the little stuff.” It’s easy to forget that when you’re in the thick of it, but at the end of the day, I promise, none of the smaller (albeit annoying) obstacles matter nearly as much as the big picture. So I’ll end with that one, actually. DO think big. Always.

DO-OVER: Gosh, I’m pretty comfortable with my life choices, even when they were total catastrophes (because, to be clear, there have been plenty of catastrophes), but we do probably need to discuss my fashion choices in my younger years. The 8th grade perm. The ill-advised double-dose of Sun-In that summer at camp. The acid washed jeans that were pulled (and belted!) just under my boob line. Oh dear. With all due respect to Esprit and Benetton and Guess...really? You couldn’t have made me look at least semi-okay during my formative years? I guess not. Oh well. Back to my first DO: I guess the good news is that I can reminisce, but then, I can also log off and try to pretend that (fashion) period never existed in the first place.

To find out more about the fabulous Allison Winn Scotch, visit her website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks, Allison!

xoxo,

L&L

Writing Wednesday with Allison Winn Scotch: The Agent Hunt-How long is TOO Long?

As many as you know, we've been on the agent hunt for the last couple of months.  And while things seem to be going pretty well (keep your fingers crossed!), we've often been asked the question: How long is TOO long to hunt for an agent? And who better to answer that question than NYT Bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch?  After all, she answers Qs like this one every day on her fantastic Ask Allison blog and she's a must-follow on Twitter. And, well, because we totally crush on her and are dying to hear her expert opinion!

So please welcome the lovely and talented Allison to Chick Lit is not Dead!  (Oh, and don't forget to check out her latest novel, The One That I Want! You'll love it!)

The Agent Hunt: How Long Is Too Long?

How long should it take to get an agent? Is there a certain point when an author should move on to writing another ms?

This is such a personal question and one that doesn’t have an exact answer to it, but I’ll give it my best shot. I’d say that on average, most authors who land agents end up querying between, say, 35-70. Which obviously is a huge, huge range. Some get lucky (and by lucky, I don’t mean actual luck involved – they’ve done their homework and also have a good manuscript), and land one much sooner. Some will query up to 100. Some won’t stop until they’ve queried every last agent they can possibly dream of. But in general (again, with no hard figures to back this up), I’d say that up to about 70 is average. For my initial query hunt, I probably went through about 40. When that agent and I parted ways, I was much better-informed about the process and also had a much stronger manuscript, so I think I only went out to about 15.

So how do you know when to throw in the towel? Again, I’m not ever going to tell someone specifically to throw in the towel, but I do think you reach a point when you have to accept that it may not happen for this manuscript. It’s not a failure, it’s a learning process, and I can almost promise you that your next manuscript will be stronger. So just when do you hit that wall? I’d say when you’ve gotten little positive feedback about the manuscript, when you really haven’t gotten many viable bites or interest, when you’ve exhausted nearly all of the agents to whom you’d be well-matched (remember, a bad agent is worse than no agent at all)...well, if all of these things have happened, and you’re still unrepresented, I’d say move on.

I think it’s really easy to keep going for the sake of it, but that’s not what’s going to be best for your career and your book. It’s a very, very emotional thing – accepting that this book might never be published, but again, try to look at it as a learning process rather than a failure. That’s what I did when my first manuscript (with that first agent) never sold. I realized that I had a wonderful opportunity to go out there and write something better. So I did. Eventually, with a new agent, that manuscript sold at a 4-way auction, and to this day, I’m grateful that I wrote the initial ms that never sold: it taught me how to be a better writer, and the agent query process taught me a lot about what I’m looking for in an agent.

Last words of advice: please be sure to do A LOT of research so you’re actually querying the right people. Look in the acknowledgment section of books that are similar to yours. Sign up for Publishers Marketplace. Check out Agent Query. The more you know, the smoother your agent hunt will go. Also, please, please, please be sure that your manuscript is ready to actually be read by the pros. This means that your first draft IS NOT the one to query with. Your fifth might be. Finally, hone your query letter to best represent your voice and spark some interest. There are some good ones floating around on the web to serve as examples.

With all of these things, I’m hopeful that you won’t hit 70-100 queries and still come up short. Good luck!

Thanks so much Allison!  xo, L&L

9 Things Liz & Lisa Didn't Know About...Allison Winn Scotch

She's not just a majorly talented, New York Times bestselling author with three fabulous books under her belt. Allison Winn Scotch also has serious celebrity radar (case in point: she saw Tina Fey, Ben Stiller AND Cynthia Nixon in the same week!).  She picked her husband up! (Wait till you find out where...) And she has quite a thing for cereal... We're SUPER excited about Allison's latest novel, The One That I Want available everywhere TODAY! We both loved the wonderful story about Tilly Farmer, a girl who's seemingly perfect life begins to fall apart after an old childhood friend gives her the gift to see into the future. Liz was unable to put it down-she finished it in one day flat! (A new all-time record, btw...) And Lisa has already read it twice! Redbook Magazine loved it too, choosing it as a June Book Pick and we agree- it's a must-have for your beach bag this summer!

And to launch The One That I Want, Allison is giving away some FABULOUS PRIZES if you order it between now and June 4th.  Send her the receipt and you'll be entered to win cool stuff like a Blackberry, a Flip camera, a bag of great summer reads and more! Head on over to her website or Facebook page for all the deets!

And that's not all!  We have FIVE copies of The One That I Want to give away!  Just leave a comment on this post to be entered!

Allison took time out of her uber-busy schedule not just to share 9 things about herself that we didn't know, but to make a video to reveal these things to us! (Thanks, Allison!)

And that's not as easy as it may seem. Think lighting, wardrobe and, of course, content. Well, we think she nailed it from start to finish. (But of course she did! We're beginning to think she's good at everything she does-she even has awesome tweets!) And we have no doubt you'll love this video as much as we do.

So, pull up a chair and watch and be prepared to learn some pretty interesting things about Allison. And don't forget to leave a comment here for a chance to win a copy of The One That I Want!

xoxo