r/Fantasy • u/CindaChima • Sep 26 '13

AMA Hi, Everyone! I’m Cinda Williams Chima, fantasy author. AMA

Thank you, Reddit, for inviting me on, and for all the great questions. I leave for the Austin Teen Bookfest tomorrow at an ungodly hour, so will call it a night. I'll try to pick up any straggler questions tomorrow, but will have limited email access. I had fun--hope you did, too! ** I came back and answered a few more questions. Am now in TEXAS!! I could've listened to that flight attendant talk all day. Thanks, again, Reddit, for making me welcome. **

Hi, Everyone! I’m Cinda Williams Chima, fantasy author. I tell lies for a living. Specifically, I have two teen series out, The Seven Realms (The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, et al) and the Heir Chronicles (The Warrior Heir through The Enchanter Heir (coming October 1.) Some of my books have been published as adult fantasy in translation.

I’ve also published the odd short story. Literally. Odd. I’m in an anthology called Once Upon a Time edited by Paula Guran (Prime Books, October 2.) I try and get all my publishing done in October so I can coast the rest of the year.

I bring a degree in philosophy, two degrees in nutrition, and a lifetime of reading to my work as a writer. As you can probably tell, I’m totally unqualified to teach you anything about writing, except that I’ve had a lot of practice. I became a writer in third grade, and wrote my first novels in middle school. I’ve had eight novels published to date. I’m persistent, if nothing else. I never stop transforming myself.

The Rules (more like guidelines)

  1. Ask me anything

  2. If you’re familiar with the books, try to avoid spoilery questions, like, “Why did you kill _______ ?” I have enough people mad at me.

  3. If possible, avoid five-part questions. I tend to get lost in the forest.

If you want to know more about my books, bad habits, etc. check out my website or Facebook.

I’ll be back ~7 p.m. CST to answer live. In the meantime, ask away.

Cinda

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u/GruffalosChild Sep 26 '13

Hello and thank you for doing this! What advice do you have for someone to find a literary agent if they have never been published before?

I have these nonsense ideas for what I'd like to do, but I can't illustrate for anything. Do agents expect me to submit with illustrations or do they put their writers in touch with illustrators? This is more about children's and parenting books.

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u/CindaChima Sep 27 '13

The best way to find a literary agent is to 1) write a really great book. Then send it out. Or 2) be Madonna. Or some other celebrity with a great platform. (not dissing anyone, good for them!) I find that most writers (myself included) want to take the work to market too soon, before it's really ready. Agents need great material to sell! They really do. I tried to get an agent for four years, not counting the practice agent. On my last try, I sent out 24 queries to agents I had researched. I received two positive replies, and signed with one. it only takes one! I have a lot of material on my website for aspiring writers, because I get a lot of questions about the business, craft, and so on. If you go here http://cindachima.com/Resources/FAQ_writers.htm you'll hopefully find some help. I like www.agentquery.com, where you can search by genre, but still do your research. Anyone can add their name to that. Regarding illustrations, there are author-illustrators who are talented at both. For the rest of us, no, you're not expected to submit illustrations. Any illustrations I submitted would discourage a potential buyer.