AG Pasquella

Question 1

His writing journey

Answer 1

Wrote and was encouraged to write as a child​

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Wrote a novel when in high school (more on this later)​

Submitted a lot of stories when in high school​

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Took a writing course in university​

Moved to Toronto ​

Saw the first issue of McSweeney’s​

Submitted​

Got accepted

Wrote a novella​

Got accepted by a small press​

The press folded before publishing it​

Wrote a crime thriller​

Got a deal for it that included signing over rights to the characters​

Rejected it​

Fired his agent​

Started his own publishing company​

Self-published for a decade or so​

Published his own novellas​

Organized his own book tours​

Etc.
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Got a new agent​

Got a new deal for his crime thrillers​

Published three of them​

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Published a collection of his self-published novellas with a small press

Question 2

Takeaways

Answer 2

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You can and should say no to a deal if it isn’t right for you​

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Self-publishing is not the dead end it used to be​

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Perseverance and connections are key (his second agent started as a friend/acquaintance)

Question 3

His advice for writers:

Answer 3

1. Writing is all about community​

Be part of the community​

Go to readings, buy books, take books out of the library, review and rate books, talk about books on social media…​

Get engaged​

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2. Don’t underestimate the power of a simple note

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3. Be relentlessly positive​

Positivity prepares you to face and move through setbacks​

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4. Why not?​

Just do it​

Try it ​

Risk it​

The worst thing that can happen is you fail or get a no

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5. Look after your mental health​

The myth of the suffering artist is very much a myth​

It is much easier to create when you aren’t suffering

Question 4

3 things he learned from writing his first novel:

Answer 4

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Things need to happen​

Not always, but…​

Your characters need to have arcs​

They need to change​

They need to act instead of be acted on​

They need to experience and respond to the consequences of their actions​

You need to just sit down and write to complete a novel

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Wrote a thousand words a day for 3 months​

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Outline before hand​

Knew how it started and how it ended​

Knew a few key scenes​

Would end a day in the middle of a chapter or sentence​

Made it easier to start again

Question 5

Work

Answer 5

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