Here's a thread about my backlist, which goes all the way back to 2012. Maybe you'll find something you like! And the good news is that all my series are completed, so you won't have to wait for anything. Let's gooooo!
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Delilah S. Dawson- pls preorder BLOOM, out 10/3!
@DelilahSDawson
NYT bestselling writer of fiction and comics for all ages, including Star Wars Phasma. Olympic lifter, birdwatcher, painter, mountain biker, plant hobbyist. Hi.
Delilah S. Dawson- pls preorder BLOOM, out 10/3!’s posts
Things I would like AI to do:
* my taxes
* my lawn
* create an extension that blocks anything related to Kardashians or Trump on my laptop
* sift out spam emails and block them forever
* find cancers
* create a better cure for Covid
Things I don't need AI to do:
* create art
I feel like one of the most challenging aspects of being a writer-- and one that we don't often discuss in public-- is how long the process takes and the fact that the majority of a writer's career is out of their control. It can be heavily disheartening. 1/
Real talk: Most midlist authors are struggling now. If you want a fresh supply of stories, please find a way to support the authors you love. Buy their books in any form from any place, support indie bookstores, RT sale links, write reviews, start a book club. It all helps!
I've been thinking about how the writers who have agents or who've been published before have this one major advantage that we don't always talk about: They've been edited by the dealmakers and have seen how much work happens in revisions. /1
At the ripe old age of 45, I'd like to pass on one piece of wisdom that's been pecking at my brain: TIME WILL PASS EITHER WAY. If you write the book or put it off, if you go back to school, if you take a trip, or if you just sit at home on your phone. Why not choose adventure?
So I'm 21k into drafting this new book, which means my brain is heavily fertile ground, constantly sprouting new ideas and scenes and lines of dialogue. I vaguely remember hopping out of bed after midnight with a genius idea. Here it is. Here's the answer to everything.
If you think this is a young Phasma, you are now legally obligated to read the book PHASMA. Sorry, I don't make the rules.
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Soooo if you're watching The Book of Boba Fett and wishing there was also a backstory for Captain Phasma, I have SUCH GOOD NEWS FOR YOU. randomhousebooks.com/books/556965/
Today I heard a doctor on a podcast say that our digestive system, as an open tube from mouth to anus, is essentially outside of us, akin to a donut hole being outside of a donut, and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THIS INFORMATION.
Audio books are real books. E-books are real books. This isn't the dang velveteen rabbit.
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Real books... or audio books?
One time this popular YA author was horribly mean to me-- I almost cried in public-- and every time I see a good person hyping her books and talking about how sweet she is, I feel like I swallowed a frog.
Hey, writers. Listen up. YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE ADJECTIVES. Even a few adverbs. You're allowed to describe the weather. You don't have to start the book in the middle of The Biggest Fight Ever. Hook us with a scene that shows character through action and dialogue, then GOOOOO.
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And since we've already had one Devil's advocate:
* I still want my accountant, I just want taxes to be easier and less worrisome
* I still want all my human doctors, I just want the best chance possible of beating cancer
* I still want scientists, just help more curing Covid
Star Wars Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade is here! Great for fans of any (or all!) of the following:
* Inquisitors!
* sympathetic villains
* The Clone Wars, the prequels, or the Kenobi show
* Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover
* or anything by Matthew Stover
book idea: THIS IS PERFECT
first draft: THIS IS TERRIBLE
second draft: THIS MIGHT BE OKAY
copyedit: THIS IS BROKEN
final pass: THIS IS ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD
book launch: WHO WROTE THIS? I REMEMBER NOTHING.
new book idea: FORGET THE OLD BOOK. *THIS* IS PERFECT*
If you watched the latest Episode of The Mandolorian and were like, "What's up with that Brendol Hux guy?", you're gonna want to read this book.
Great ways to help an author today:
* pre-order their book
* buy their backlist
* add their book on Goodreads
* review their book on Amazon or Goodreads (or anywhere!)
* tell a friend about their book
* RT a post about the book
* give them a cookie; they are very tired and hungry
Good morning! I'm awake from my colonoscopy and starving. Pellet the Emotional Support Hamster took great care of me. Soon, food. Then, SLEEP.
Good afternoon to the small girl running up and down the aisle at Kroger screaming WE'RE EVIL AND WE'RE BUYING ALL THE EGGS and no one else.
You know a social media platform is going well when your newsfeed is 90% people leaving their other social media handles behind like they're spray painting a dumpster in a zombie movie.
I'm sorry I didn't respond, it's just that I answered you in my head and forgot that you can't actually read my mind, and then I let it go too long and assumed you hated me, and also I can't keep my sock untwisted and my hair feels very loud today.
Here is the problem I'm having:
Facebook deals in memes and links.
Instagram deals in pictures.
TikTok deals in videos.
I'm words. My life is words. I want words. If Twitter goes, where do I word?
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And I still want landscapers to exist; I just want a better Grass Roomba that can handle wisteria.
Whereas AI in art can cut artists out completely. It's a totally different issue than 'use a robot to spot cancer on a scan'.
I would think this would all be fairly obvious.
Last night, I took a stained glass workshop. My instructor strode into the room like Yoda at his most annoyed and said, "Get it in your heads that you're going to make mistakes because nothing is perfect and it never will be." And that's the kind of energy I want to bring to art.
Fun Star Wars writer fact: Before stating that a character's eyebrows rose, you should always check to make sure that their species has eyebrows.
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And I don't mean, "She was eating lunch in a corner after a bad day with cramps and I bothered her for a selfie," I mean that I introduced myself and she said something very specifically unkind to me, to put me in my place. It could not possibly have been a mistake.
Pursuant to yesterday's thread on how to edit your novel before and after querying, a few thoughts on AGENTS, specifically, what to expect with your first one. I see some misinformation floating around, and you deserve the truth. 1/
Difficult publishing truths:
* great books don't always sell well
* books that sell well aren't always great
* an author's popularity is generally a combination of hard work, time on task, and luck
* no matter how hard you work or how great your books, success isn't guaranteed
Your job is not to write the most successful book in the world. It's to write THIS book. Your job is to do the work. If you don't do the work, the book doesn't get written. If it doesn't get written, it can't be edited, it can't sell, it can't become successful. Just do the work.
The Emperor's New Groove is a vastly underappreciated film and Kuzco is a Disney princess FIGHT ME.
I feel silly saying this, but if you ever see me at a Disney park, please say hi! Always happy to chat Star Wars and take a pic, if you're into that! Got to meet someone today who liked Phasma and it made my day!!
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Word of mouth is what helps lesser-known authors and books gain a foothold. Tell a friend. Buy a copy for your mom's birthday. Write a review. Talk about it on Facebook. Social media algorithms no longer support our self-promotion unless we pay for ads.
It's come up a few times recently, so I just want to remind everyone that:
1. Most authors don't get an agent with their first book
2. Most authors don't sell their 1st book
3. Even established authors have things that don't sell
4. It's pretty normal to change agents eventually
Anxiety is weird because you can be perfectly fine and then--for no good reason-- suddenly think, "I'm breathing, and if I breathe wrong, I'll pass out and die," and then you spend the next week thinking about breathing and checking your heart rate. PLS UPDATE THIS SOFTWARE.
Happy #AceWeek! Never said this out loud before, but I think I'm somewhere on the gray/demi spectrum. But Delilah, you write steamy smooch & sexytimes scenes! Yeah, I've also written murder scenes, but I don't wanna murder anybody. I think of cupcakes 100 times a day, sex 0. Hi.
A thread: How to Edit a Novel, or How I Learned to Stop Copyediting and Query the 17th Draft. 1/
Are you neurotypical or did you just learn to hide every single trait that annoyed other people because you couldn't figure out why no one liked you as a child and did you also devise countless systems to keep your life from falling apart because deep down, you're absolute chaos.
what you think I did: not answer your email
what I actually did: read the email, mentally composed 10 replies, realized it was too early to send a response, closed it, got distracted, remembered it two days later, decided it was now too late and I look like an ass, panicked.
Here is the secret to writing a book: You just write. Even when you don't think you can, even when you're pretty sure it sucks, even if you worry you're not up to it or that you have no business attempting to wrangle such a lofty idea. You just do it anyway, until it's done.
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My only advice?
1. Make genuine friends in the publishing community.
2. Pay it forward to another writer. RT their sale link, give congrats on their sale, go to their event.
3. Keep writing. It's not over until you are. Stay in love with story, and you're unstoppable. 19/
Dear writer: Don't forget that when your book gets stuck, it might actually be your brain that's stuck. Go for a walk or a drive, ride your bike, take a bath, go on an adventure, drop your phone and keys, march into the forest naked, fight a moose, terrorize some campers. Bloom.
Fun facts about IP books #1: Generally, writers don't come up with the idea and pitch the book out of nowhere. The editors have an idea of what they want and select a writer they know can nail it. So, I didn't say, LEMME TELL PHASMA'S STORY, they asked if I was interested.
1st drafting: THIS BOOK IS AMAZING
book is w agent/editor: MAYBE IT'S TRASH
while revising: MAYBE I'M TRASH
book is w agent/editor: I SHOULD JUMP IN THE SEA
they like the book: WAS IT AN ACCIDENT
copyediting: WHO WROTE THIS
book launches: I AM DYING
the next day: I HAVE AN IDEA
Hey, writers: I know it can feel like we're supposed to talk about how writing is hard and editing is drudgery, but it's okay enjoy it, to love your work and be proud of it. It's more than ok to give yourself goosebumps and tears. We create worlds. It's something to celebrate.
me: I love my kids more than anything. I would give them the last crumb of bread. I would die for them.
also me: *hides favorite spoon so they can't use it first*
still me: *says there's no more chocolate when there is definitely more chocolate*
yet STILL me: is that my SOCK
I woke up burdened with one glorious purpose: to find Loki horns that will fit my taxidermy alligator, Terry.
Does anyone else sometimes want to completely change their style and buy an entirely new wardrobe that's nothing but soft black cotton and linen and bulky, moss-colored sweaters and long flowered dresses and wide-brimmed hats or am I just entering my crone phase?
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So, what can you do?
- pre-order books from authors you <3
- review books online
- tell a friend & buy books as gifts
- ask your library to get a copy
- order it at your local indie
- start a book club
- rave on social media
Our voices are hampered on social. Yours is not!
A STORY ABOUT HOW DUMB YOUR BRAIN IS.
Ahem. So as you know, I'm into Olympic lifting now. I started in December, working out twice a week. Now I go thrice. And here's a thing that makes me mad and relates to writing/art: I could lift more in February than I can now. 1/
She's here! She's here! I've birthed another murderous baby! Everyone, meet Iskat Akaris.
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In 11 years and 20+ books I have NEVER had an editor demand I change something against my will with no room for discussion. Editors don't want you to hate your book. They want to work with you so you're both happy. But you have to let that ego die and open up to the maybes. 8/
A thread on writing with chronic illness. I have an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's. It gets progressively worse as you age. Mine's gone from no impact on my life to HA HA HA WHO NEEDS A GALLBLADDER. Note: I'm not a doctor or therapist. YMMV. This is what helps me. 1/
107 days until I bring you another unrepentant lady villain.
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When I finally got a lit agent and received my first revision letter, I cried. In public, at the beignet restaurant. I was not prepared for 9 pages, single spaced, full of criticism. No former gifted child is ready for that. It meant I had done a bad job.
Or did it?
Nope. 3/
Today is a great day to buy Star Wars Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade! Those first week sales are crucial to an author's career. You don't need to have ever read a Star Wars book before--if you've seen the prequels, the Kenobi show, or The Clone Wars, you'll grok it.
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Why am I telling you this?
1. So you know you're not alone and that this is a frustrating experience.
2. So that new authors recognize this feeling when it arises and are prepared to feel bookishly impotent.
3. I saw something that made me rabidly jealous, obviously. 17/
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Success as an author, IMHO, is skill + time on task + luck. You write the best book you can, again and again, and the hope is that your career will grow. It might not. Again, that's out of our hands. Even great books sometimes never find their audience. Most books don't. 6/
Is someone isn't making a Star Wars-themed water gun called a Super Ahsoka, then what are we even doing here?
I don't talk about it very much, but I live with a chronic disease. Would anyone be interested in a thread on how I balance that with a writing career? Not 'do this, do that' but more like... here are some of my tips and tricks just to function?
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Once I'd gone through the stages of grief-- as I do with every revision letter I receive-- I made a punch list of what needed to change. I began to see that letter not as a list of my faults... but as a cheat sheet for writing a sellable book. 4/
Here we go. A brief thread on how to find the energy to write-- and the energy to focus. Even though I can't right now. Ha! 1/
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Replying to @DelilahSDawson
How do you find energy to write? Or energy to focus?
me: Man, Luisa's song in Encanto always makes me cry. I wish she knew she has worth even when she's not working.
my brain: not you though
me: not me though
Just a reminder: If you get tapped to write Star Wars and need someone to talk to, I'm here for you. Let me be your Official Star Wars Auntie. I'll bring the support, encouragement, and answers. It can be very intimidating, the first time!
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The older I get, the more I realize I don't need to be the smartest, the prettiest, the richest, the most talented. I want to be the most alive. I want beams of HELL YES to shine out of my eyes and infect everyone I meet. I want to do the opposite of ossifying.
Okay, let's talk about outlining. When I started writing at age 31, I didn't outline. It was All Pants, All the Time. And at least once a year, I had a book that entirely punked out and was unwriteable, unfixable, or unsellable. Outlining fixed that. 1/
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How detailed do you go when outlining? Just main plot/character beats, or touching on subplots or themes, etc?
So this is a thread for ladies/AFAB peeps who are over 35 and feel their meatcage slowly dying around them. I have some tips for you! That might help you feel better! But I'm not a doctor or even a scientist or personal trainer-- I'm just one gal-- so YMMV! 1/
Cat medicine is so messed up. "Your angry personal tiger has a bacterial infection, so you'll need to take this large pill that he hates and poke it past thirty tiny razorblades into his mouth, which already has as much bacteria as a komodo dragon's butthole. Twice a day."
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Bad news, you guys. 3 writers who make me jealous with their TV/film deals have reached out privately to let me know that they don't feel any more secure. So all I can glean here is that unless you're Stephen King, you're always gonna worry. That's... kind of freeing, actually!
If you haven't seen Only Murders in the Building, it's a delight. Like if Wes Anderson and Agatha Christie had a baby and then let Martin Short and Steve Martin babysit.
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I always recommend Story Genius by Lisa Cron for this reason. If you treat it like a workbook for each story, your book will grow its plot along with a consistent character arc. I used to have a book every year that punked out, but I haven't since I read Story Genius. 10/
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And then I sold the book! I had an editor! At Simon & Schuster! And *she* sent me her 9-page, single-spaced edit letter. And again, I cried, because we all harbor this secret hope that we have written a perfect book, like Athena rising from Zeus's skull.
Nope.
Never. 6/
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Please note: This is not a 'woe is me' thread. I'm a reader, too. I see the direction things are headed, and It's scary. If you want new voices and new stories and not just the same 20 famous authors in endless iterations, you have to actively choose to support this industry.
My 15yo daughter is reading Star Wars Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire, and she got to the bit about the Hux worm, and she asked if anyone had done any fan art of Kylo Ren kissing the Hux worm, and I choked on my own spit, died, and became one with the Force.
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If you see another salesman at work get a huge deal, you get all fired up to sell more. If you lost a basketball game, you practice more. But authors are already doing everything in our power to succeed. All we can do is keep trying to level up. It's frustrating. 5/
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For example, she suggested I cut the lighthouse scene in Wicked as They Come, and I said, "Absolutely not!" It was a darling. She said, "It's an appendix. Chop it off and the book is fine. You have to make it a liver." This advice lives in my heart. I had to make it necessary! 5/
One of the best parts of Dragon Con this year is seeing two Barbies spot each other and lovingly call out HEY, BARBIE! in the Barbie voice and then tell each other how great they look and give each other swag. I LOVE WOMEN SUPPORTING EACH OTHER SO MUCH! 😭😭😭
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Barnes & Noble is buying fewer hardcovers that aren't major bestsellers. And I don't mean writers like me who hit list once with a Star Wars book. They're going to focus on Rick Riordan and Nora Roberts, while midlist and debut authors struggle more than ever to be discovered.
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That's when you have to remind yourself that IT IS NOT OVER. It's not over until you quit. Because even if most of your career as a writer is out of your hands, your job remains the same: Write the best book you can. As long as you love the work, there's a way to keep going. 12/
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I hit the NYT list, but I'm still a midlist author. I get great reviews, but most people haven't heard of me. All I can do is keep trying. It's like throwing darts-- eventually, I'm gonna hit that bullseye. I have to remind myself that I am an endless fount of story. 13/
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With each edit letter, there were suggestions that were obvious, and there were changes I was neutral about, and then there were requests that made me ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS. I had to learn that an edit letter is not a list of demands. The goal is an improved book you both love. 7/
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I strongly disagree. Sure, it's important to read difficult books, to read deeply, to get a long view via time-tested classics. But what is life without fluff? Without excitement and tummy flutters and laughter? Sometimes you read to learn, but you must also read to feel. 2/
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If you're a writer who sometimes feels overwhelmed with jealousy, that's ok. I think it's really common, especially because social media combines everyone's highlight reels into a fire hose of success that seems to get turned on us when we're at our weakest. You're not alone. 15/
I just need you all to know that back in 2013 I made Mobius laugh during a press junket.
Sometimes I think humanity is worth saving and other times I watch people get into a pedantic argument in the comments of a Facebook post over whether it can be a 'charcuterie' board if it's made up of Halloween candy and not a single one of them uses the word 'charBOOterie'.
My sweet little goblin babycat Cliffjumper left us early this morning after a year of battling lymphoma. It has been... a month.
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So that's about 2.5 years from idea to finished book. Once I've written the book, everything else is out of my control. If it gets a good marketing budget, if it gets a great cover, if it gets attention at a fair or goes viral, if it sells movie rights. NONE OF THAT. 3/
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Let's say I start writing a book now. IF I didn't have non-competes and IF I didn't have anything else to do, I could produce a finished draft in about 45 days. Agent and I revise it for 45 days. She takes it on sub, 7 to 60 days. They buy it and schedule it to pub in 2 years. 2/
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For a while, social media helped sell books. Now it doesn't. Now there is very little a writer can do-- or pay someone else to do-- that will help their book go viral or get attention. We can't even ensure our book is on a poster at the book fair or convention. It's all🤞. 8/
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Ways to level up as a querying writer who can't invest in developmental editing:
* read Story Genius + Save the Cat
* look f/ a critique partner online
* look f/ a writers' group that does critique
* ask bookish friends to beta read; request specific feedback
* take a class 14/
me: I'm 43, I like my body right now, I have money, and I want to look cute.
Target: how would u like to look like a giant toddler
Raise your hand if you can't believe there isn't a Vi Moradi Funko Pop.
*cough*
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Delilah Dawson just said she’s writing a new Star Wars book and I’m so happy 
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Teaching kids that the only value in literature is the philosophy of dudes who've been dead for centuries is not a good look. In all the classics this writer mentioned, not one was written by a woman or a person who wasn't white. There are other lives worth reading about. 5/
This is just to say
I am sorry
this book
is in
your feed
so much
you are probably
sick
of seeing it
Forgive me
I'm proud of it
so rad
and so stabby
(TODAY IS LAUNCH DAY!!!)
I don't wanna be all whatever, but the e-book of PHASMA is only $4.99. That's like, 1980s mass market prices. If you want to read Star Wars x Mad Max with a dash of horror, I hope you'll give it a try. If you've seen The Force Awakens, that's the only precedent you need.
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I know writers who live on their advances. I know writers who live on their backlist royalties. I know writers who live on their TV/film rights. I know writers who live on their foreign rights. None of us choose which bucket we're gonna land in. Skill + time + luck. 7/
When I was a kid, I loved to learn new words. Big, audacious words. Short, punchy words. Weird, old words. I still love words like that, and I put them in my books, even for kids. If your child doesn't get it from context, they can Google it. Books are all about expansion.
I used to get annoyed with myself when I inhaled a bag of jelly beans while doing a difficult edit, but then I heard on a podcast that brain function is 100% linked to glucose and now this is SELF CARE I am LUBING MY BRAIN please take all the LICORICE ONES because I'm WORKING.
Surprise! I'm back in the YA game!
