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Part I: OVERVIEW
People of all ages ask us how to get published. In fact, it's probably the question we get asked the most. Strangely, that question isn't as easy to answer as it may seem. If you could ask 100 authors how they found a publisher, it's guaranteed that you'd end up hearing 100 different tales. So we thought that we'd take the next few months to share the story of how we got published . . .
STEP ONE: Write an incredible book that demands to be published
Now that might sound too simple (and it probably is), but that's exactly where you need to start. Don't worry about agents, publishers, sales, marketing, or anything else right now. You'll have plenty of time for that later. Instead (at least for now), focus on a story that you are really passionate about. If you'd write it whether anyone read it or not, then you're on to something.
How do I start writing?
This is something that will continually change throughout your writing career. With The Revenge of the Shadow King, we began by sitting down and coming up with a basic plot, then added some characters, flushed those characters out, created a loose outline, and then started writing. We stopped after six chapters to edit and make sure we each were familiar with the text. Then we'd go on and write another six chapters, stop, and edit all 12 of the chapters we had written to that point. Then came six more chapters, and we stopped after that to each edit 18 chapters. Finally we wrote the last six chapters, and then edited all 24 chapters (and we each went through it 2 or 3 times).
Avoid the trap of editing too much
To put it mildly, that was a lot of editing. In fact, it was probably way too much editing. We were overly concerned about being perfect right out of the gates, and that made the process of writing a 97,000 word book take almost six years to create. Being worried about writing as well as J.R.R. Tolkien (or even J.K. Rowling) in your first draft is a dangerous trap that all writers can fall into, and it will cause a multitude of problems like writer's block and missed deadlines. It's not an easy thing to do, and it may even sound counterintuitive, but you need to tell yourself it's okay to write a clunky first draft. Trust us, you'll have plenty of time to go back and edit later.
 Prep now to avoid problems later
By the time we started writing our third book, The Fall of the Templar, we were already preparing to create Grey Griffins graphic novels. Because writing for comics is a totally different process than writing novels, we bought some books on the subject. One of those books was called the DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics by Dennis O'Neil. There is a great chapter in the book called "Script Preparation" that is helpful for novelists, script writers and comic writers alike. And it helped us discover a process that really works for us. O'Neil strongly believes that "a little advance work now can save time and toil later on." A men! He suggests starting with a simple outline of your story -- just the main plot points. Then take those main points and write them on 3 by 5 cards or Post-it notes, spread them out, and the rearrange and add to them as needed. Once you feel you have the perfect order for your story, go back to your computer or notepad and turn your outline into paragraph form. We took it a step further by acutally creating a document with 29 pages representing the 29 chapters we felt the book would require. Then we wrote anywhere from one to three paragraphs describing each chapter. We still allowed ourselves to change the story as needed. Now even though this process sounds like a lot of work, we promise it will save you anywhere from weeks to months in the long run. Adapting some of O'Neil's techniques into our process really helped us create a much tighter story, and we were able to cut our production time significantly. But we still had a big problem! Even though this was our third book and you would think that we would have learned our lesson, we still got caught in an editing trap. The good news is that we had improved our process from taking six years to writing a novel down to 18 months, but we still had a long way to go to reach our goal of writing a Grey Griffins novel in 16 weeks.
 Your first draft is SUPPOSED to stink
Finishing an entire novel in 16 weeks may sound like a crazy idea, but we now know that it's possible because we finally understand that even though we had good intentions by editing as often as we did, we were simply elongating the writing process for no good reason. Most of what we edited the first three times ended up getting edited out anyway, so we discovered that worrying about the details too early in the process can be deadly to production. At a recent book signing at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, New York Times bestselling author, Shannon Hale, made this declaration: "first drafts are supposed to stink." Say what? Did Shannon Hale really say that? Absolutely. Hearing someone who has sold as many books as she has say that even her first drafts stink took a lot of our pressure away. And do you know what?She's 100% correct. The first draft basically allows you to get everything out of your head and onto the page, and if you are too worried about writing a perfect story the first time out, you're going to fail on two fronts: (1) you'll end up with writer's block beause you'll be too nervous to make a mistake (which, by the way, you're going to make whether you want to or not); and (2) if you edit too much in early stages you'll take way too long to write something that is going to change anyway, so why invest all that time?
 Finally . . . we're going to write fast!
Some of the best advice we have ever heard came from Robin Brande, the talented author of Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature. She said that you need to "write fast." So what does that mean? It means you don't stop to edit, and you don't try to write perfectly -- you trust your instincts and write the first thing that comes into your head so you can get that story our of your thoughts and onto the page. Then, once you finish an entire draft of your book, you can finally start editing as you attempt to lovingly craft the perfect story. By the way, editing is one of the most important components of the writing process, but it's an implement from your writing toolbox that can be abused if you aren't careful. It took us a long time to learn that lesson but starting with Grey Griffins Book 4: The Immortals -- we're going to push through and finish the entire story before we dive back in and edit the details. We'll probably stop about half way through to make sure we haven't missed on any major plot points, that the story is cohesive, and we're headed down the right path. But outside of those very general concerns, we're going to write fast!
INVESTING IN YOUR WRITING
Although we've discovered that aspiring authors don't like to hear this, writing is as much a business as it is an art. That means you are going to end up investing more than just your time -- you'll need to invest money as well. The good news is that as far as startup costs, being an author is relatively inexpensive. You'll need a computer, software, and a place to write (your bedroom, a park, coffee shop, or even an office that you could sublease). This may mean that you'll have to eat PB&J instead of stopping at the drive-thru window a couple times a week, but it will be worth it in the long run.
CRITICAL READING & REFERENCE MATERIAL
The First Five Pages & The Plot Thickens (and ANYTHING) by Noah Lukeman
You may want to begin by investing in good reference material. The first two books we are suggesting below are important because they were written by an extremely successful agent named Noah Lukeman. We've heard industry people say that it is more difficult to get an agent than it is to get published. If that's true, and a talented agent like Noah is willing to take the time to show you what he believes will help you sell your books (remember, writing is a business as much as an art), you need to listen. That's a rare gift.
By the way, we don't know the authors of these books, nor do we get any "kick backs" if anyone purchases the books. We have purchased all of these books as well, because we found them to be extremely useful tools. You might even be able to find them used somewhere for much less than the cover price.
 The First Five Pages (more info) focuses on a critical fact: from the very first word, your writing needs to grab the reader and never let go. That fact is true today more than ever -- especially if the target market for your audience is somehwere between 7-18 years old. We live in a digital age where information is available at the click of a button, immersive online worlds and explosive video games are almost addictive, and theatres are filled with blockbuster movies that have incredible special effects. Like it or not, as a writer, you're competiting for the same time and money that consumers are currently spending on all that amazing technology. Don't believe us? As of this month, there are more than 7 million people paying $15/month to play World of Warcraft, a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) produced by Blizzard Entertainment. Do you think those 7 million people have as much free time and expendable income as they would if they weren't playing WOW? You're books have some stiff competition, so if you can get a potential reader to pick up your book, you better hold on tight and not let go.
 The Plot Thickens (more info) walks you through the process of creating strong characters and plotlines that will keep readers interested. It goes hand-in-hand with The First Five Pages, and everyone from beginning writers to seasoned authors should probably read both at least once a year.
DC Comics Guide to Writing Comic Books (more info) by Dennis O'Neil is a great resource -- especially for beginning writers. O'Neil shares his powerful process for story preparation, which is useful not just for writing comic books, but for novelists and screenwriters as well.
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