Jessica on working with Lora:
I fell in love with Lora Senf’s winged girl trapped in a grain silo before I knew anything about Lora. That scene was burned into my brain as I tore through The Losting Fountain‘s pages. The writing was so strong, unique, and haunting with this immersive, escapist quality that makes me love reading.
I had a great time doing a comprehensive edit on her dark and twisty tale of three teens making their way to the ageless place where lost things go when they want to be found. There were slithery monsters in the night and a world unlike one I’ve seen in any other manuscript.
In November, 2018, Lora generously agreed to participate in my Group Authorpreneurship Coaching program, and over the next four months we worked through the group sessions together on things like: building author websites, revisions, and the agent/author relationship.
After class formally came to an end, Lora & I kept working together. We did a few one-on-one coaching sessions when she got her first agent offer. That session led to her eliciting a competing agent offer, and then we walked through the contract process.
My favorite part about working with Lora is seeing how she trusts her intuition and pursues the path her instinct tells her to take. After her initial offer she reached out to a different agent, who she had a good feeling about. That agent, Ali Herring, turned out to be the right fit for Lora, and she signed with Spencerhill Associates for The Losting Fountain.
But, what impressed me even more, is the fact Lora wrote Them Clackity after she finished TLF–and decided to go out with Them Clackity for her first round of submissions to publishers. I admire the way she thinks long term through her career and is trusting her instincts about which book will be the best debut for her.
My to-be-read books list got a lot creepier when I met Lora. (I wouldn’t touch horror with a ten-foot pole before we worked together.) I feel very fortunate that winged girl brought Lora into my world and am excited to see what comes out of her head next.
Lora on working with Jessica:
“Before working with Jessica, I had no writing community and no sense of all that is involved in the writing process beyond putting my story down in words. I had a manuscript, and a lot of hope, but otherwise had no idea what I was doing. Through her mentorship I gained answers to questions I didn’t know to ask, and now have a small but fierce group of incredible critique partners. There is no doubt I am a better writer – both in terms of craft and business – thanks to the opportunities provided by Jessica’s mentorship.”
Official Bio:
Lora Senf is a wife, mom to twins, community college dean, and doctoral student. She is also a writer of dark and twisty middle grade and young adult stories.
Lora finds inspiration for her writing in her children’s retellings of their dreams, on road trips through Montana, and most recently in an abandoned abattoir. As a young reader, she raised herself on classic fairy tales, John Bellairs, Ray Bradbury, and Stephen King (she read Cujo when she was eight and was simultaneously terrified and hooked).
Today, she still prefers a rainy day and a scary book to nearly anything else. When she isn’t reading for school, she’s reading fiction—mostly horror or anything a little weird and unsettling. Lora credits her love of words to her parents and to the public library that was walking distance from her childhood home. Lora is a member of SCBWI, Horror Writers Association, and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. You can find her spending far too much time on Twitter @Lora013.
Where to find Lora online:
Website: http://lorasenf.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lora013
Client services Lora utilized:
- Comprehensive full manuscript critique: annotated manuscript pages, 5-10 page developmental edit letter, one hour phone consult.
- Authorpreneurial Group Coaching: four-month online coaching session. Jessica partnered Lora with other authors seeking traditional publication. Jessica provided weekly homework and guidance tailored to the needs of the small group. Lora revised her manuscript with the assistance of beta reads & feedback from her classmates. Some of the topics covered in this group included: author websites, querying best-practices, the agent/author relationship, Critique Partner & Beta Reader best practices, social media strategy, author events, and more.
- One-on-one coaching: phone coaching through initial agent offer, eliciting additional agent offers, choosing the best agent from multiple offers, through signature contract.